


Feels like Home

by YuMe89



Series: Longing for You [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Babysitter Derek Hale, Deputy Stiles Stilinski, Detective Stiles Stilinski, FBI Consultant Stiles Stilinski, Future Fic, Good Friend Derek Hale, Idiots in Love, Kid Fic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Derek Hale, Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, Original Character(s), Stiles is the father to twins, at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 30,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28949835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuMe89/pseuds/YuMe89
Summary: Hey there!💗Everyone who's joining from No Cure for Obsession, I gotta tell you: I love you!💕Everyone who just tuned in because of Sterek: I love you!💕This is one of two kid fics I ever wrote, but up until now I didn't think I even should upload it.I always get the feeling I write the children wrong...so idk.If the people reading only for Sterek, get the vibe there was something more going on betweenRafael McCall and Stiles, then I think it's safe to say that you should just read the other fic as well for background info :D(Noooo, not me trying to interest you in another fic of mine. I would never >.>)Hope you enjoy! 💖
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Longing for You [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121498
Comments: 10
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!💗
> 
> Everyone who's joining from No Cure for Obsession, I gotta tell you: I love you!💕  
> Everyone who just tuned in because of Sterek: I love you!💕
> 
> This is one of two kid fics I ever wrote, but up until now I didn't think I even should upload it.  
> I always get the feeling I write the children wrong...so idk.
> 
> If the people reading only for Sterek, get the vibe there was something more going on between  
> Rafael McCall and Stiles, then I think it's safe to say that you should just read the other fic as well for background info :D  
> (Noooo, not me trying to interest you in another fic of mine. I would never >.>)
> 
> Hope you enjoy! 💖

  


  
Stiles had officially moved to DC after he had finished at GWU. He'd been working with Rafael McCall as a Consultant for Supernatural cases, alongside his normal work as a Detective with the Metropolitan Police Department. Of course he visited his dad and friends occasionally over the past seven years so they were updated on his life semi-regularly in person and more often then not through Skype and texting. In some cases even snap chat. Lydia loved those filters and Stiles discovered, that some of them made him look less sleep deprived, which helped in dodging questions about his well-being. He really couldn't take another question about nightmares, he just couldn't.  


Everyone knew that Stiles didn't really date since Lydia. He simply didn't have time to meet anyone that could actually stick or had the patience to wait around when he didn't give them a sign of life. Which was a possibility, since they flew across the country to investigate. At least that's what Stiles will tell everyone, even held at gunpoint. Some cans of worms should never be opened.  


Don't get him wrong, he does have flings, one-night-stands, hook-ups, you name it. Everything as meaningless as it possibly could get. The last time he had something resembling to a friends- with-benefits situation, it had been with René, a female Werewolf he had met through his work with Rafael, still as an intern back then. They kind of hit it off immediately, though he did tell her he wasn't emotionally available and she was understanding.  


It still ended in a huge fight, in which his precious Captain America figurine was destroyed beyond repair, her fist had squeezed him so hard Cap had looked like he got overrun by a truck. And some of his favorite Comics flew out the window. Yes, Stiles had went ballistic after that particular move of hers. They never spoke again. The silence between them was going on solid five years now.  


So, when he got a call from a social worker that told him to meet with them as soon as possible, he was more than a little perplex. There was no way they got the wrong person, because he was the only one with _that_ name in the whole frigging country. He checked, twice.  


The meeting, held at his apartment, went down like nothing Stiles could've been prepared to see or live through. Trust him, he had seen Bigfoot! That shit was real, he thought nothing could surprise him anymore.  


He was very, very wrong.

Six pairs of eyes were staring at him from the hall at the threshold to his apartment, one pair was extremely annoyed. "I am sorry to inform you that the birthmother has tragically died, I don't know the circumstances of your parting, but these are your children Mister Stilinski." she obviously didn't even want to touch his first name with a ten foot pole. Stiles could understand that.  


But it sounded a lot like _Here, now they're your problem_ and that made him angry and sad at the same time.

The thing is, she didn't even have to tell him they were his, because they looked like miniature versions of himself. Not a single feature of their mom in sight. Twins. He was the father of twins. Great. If this was a movie, now was his cue to faint.  


He didn't of course, he just stared back at those cute little kids. Belatedly he remembered that he was supposed to answer. "I can see that." He crouched down to be more at eye level with them. They held hands and stood together as close as possible. "Hey, I'm Stiles. What are your names?" he asked in a soft voice. Over the years he had encountered too many traumatized or neglected children and he knew how to talk and act in a non-threatening manner to make them feel less afraid.  


Because they were scared shitless, if their wide eyes were any indication.

"They won't talk. Here, we got a folder for you. Birth certificate, social security number and a bit of paperwork," she handed him a manila folder and then two small bags, probably filled with clothes. "We will meet again and inspect your living situation soon. Right now it's the best for them to be with family."  


And that was it, Stiles had children he didn't even know existed and with a sinking feeling he realized they were probably werewolves, just like their mom. Fuck. "I- uh, okay. I need to make adjustments, that's for sure. It was nice meeting you." he replied. The woman, who had introduced herself as Dana Miller, something around forty he guessed, nodded tersely and left. She literally dropped twins on his doorstep and left. What has become of this country? Stiles had no clue and he worked for the government!  


He should probably call his Captain and tell him about this new development in his life.

The twins still stared at him like they expected something, when he simply stared back they both turned to each other for a second before flashing their eyes at him. Jup, Werewolves, awesome.  


"You like Cheerios?" Stiles asked them with a smile and got enthusiastic nods in return. Okay, this would work somehow, he was sure. Getting out some bowls, milk and the promised Cheerios, he helped his kids to sit at the table properly, pillows under their butts so they could actually eat, their short legs swinging over the edge. His furniture was definitely not designed with children in mind!  


They were happily munching, when he took his phone and called his Captain. It went like he expected, the fucker wasn't impressed, but he knew he couldn't blame Stiles for this. Since he hadn't even known about them until today.  


When Stiles ended the call and opened the folder to look at their birth certificates in search for their names and birthdays, he found out that they were named Eleonore and Benedict Stilinski. He swallowed thickly as he saw she chose his last name for them instead of her own. He mused it was some kind of preventative act in case someone got to her and the kids were unharmed.  


Both were born on February Fourteenth 2015, what a nice Valentines Day present. Eleonore was a minute older than her brother. It made him smile a bit. If she was anything like her mom, Benedict would get the 'I'm older do as I say' routine for the rest of his life. He looked at them for a moment, they were eerily quiet for four year olds.  


He got a text from his Captain, stating the cause of death had been smoke inhalation. It was ruled as an accident, but Stiles knew this had to be a Hunters handiwork. The first person who came to mind with that modus operandi was Kate Argent. He had to contain his anger, as he thought about what could've happened to those innocent kids, _his kids_ , if they hadn't been at Daycare the time their home burned out.  


It did explain why they were left with just a few things. Probably not even their own stuff. A thought struck him, as he remembered their time together. René and him had taken photos together and he was so glad he didn't get rid of them. He doubted there would be photos in their small bags.  


He send a quick text out to Rafael McCall to let him know that René Doukas was dead, probably killed and that he wouldn't be able to help out for a while, since he acquired fatherhood over night. He declined the call he got from him, messaging Rafael that he wasn't able to talk at the moment, when in reality he just didn't want to talk to him specifically right now.  


There was a reason why he held his distance to Rafael as much as possible. The strange wet dream he had, when they shared a room in Montana had caused him to stop drinking around others. He guessed it had something to do with their unwanted hook up due to the Incubus pheromones forcing them to have sex.  


It wasn't like Stiles didn't think Rafael was attractive, because he was objectively, but he was Scott's dad and that alone was a huge blinking neon sign of NO.  


Stiles turned on his TV and searched for some kiddie program, before he went back to the kitchen table to tell them they could watch television for a bit. He didn't really have anything they could play with, but he would sacrifice his Marvel figurine collection if he had to, as long as it meant he could save them from boredom.  


They eagerly followed him into the living room and planted their little butts on the couch. Heads barely visible over the back of it. The sight pulled on Stiles heartstrings in a way he hadn't anticipated. Sure he wanted kids someday, but this was not how he had thought it would happen. It made him resent René just a little, for not telling him about them. If she hadn't died, he probably would've never known they existed.  


He stayed in the kitchen and sat down when he dialed the only number he could in this situation.  
It took five rings for Derek to pick up with a gruff " _Hello?_ "  


"Hey, sorry to interrupt your evening, but I need your help...advice...insight? All of the above probably," he said, his heart rate was picking up and he was thankful Derek wouldn't hear it over the phone. Before Derek could say anything he continues. "So, turns out I'm a father now and the kids are Werewolves. Uh, is it possible for you to give me a few hints on how to parent lycanthropic twins?" Stiles asked drawing invisible patterns at the kitchen table with his pointer finger.  


The other end stayed silent for so long that Stiles thought Derek had hung up on him. He looked at his phone, but there was still a connection, just no sound. "Hey, can you hear me? Derek, are you still there?" he tried, frustrated and internally ranting about carriers who weren't able to sustain a secure connection.  


" _Uh, yeah, I'm still there, just...I didn't know you were in a committed relationship._ " Derek sounded off, like some pod person had taken his place. " _Why can't you ask their mother?_ " Him and Derek hadn't really talked in a while which was entirely Stiles fault. Derek had given up somewhere around last year. Stiles had been sad and relieved about that. It was hard to talk to that Werewolf in particular when he missed him so much. Their easy banter and trust was something Stiles could live off of, if he wouldn't be thinking about kissing that stupid bunny teeth inhabiting mouth too.  


Stiles splayed his left hand on the table and bit his lip. It was harder to say now than when he had told his Captain. He took a deep breath and looked over to the twins, making sure they weren't actively overhearing. Although he was sure they already knew all the gory details, what with the super hearing and everything. "She's dead. Possibly Hunters. I didn't know I had them until today. We...we were never a couple, René and I. In hindsight it explains her anger issues before she left DC. She probably didn't even know she was pregnant at the time." he said this in an even voice, reciting the facts, no emotion needed.  


He could hear Derek take a sharp breath after the first sentence, but he wasn't interrupted. " _I'm sorry, Stiles._ " Derek finally said, when he finished his explanation.  


"I'm thinking about coming back to Beacon Hills, taking a position as a Deputy there. Sure it's not the same as being a Detective and do the occasional consulting job for Rafael. But it's not like I could do that exciting sh-oot now anyway. I haven't told dad yet. I don't even know how I should do that." Stiles babbled on. Derek brought out his old habits, he had kept away as good as he could. "I don't want to spring this on him over the phone..."  


" _What are their names?_ " Derek wanted to know, changing the subject effectively.

"Eleonore and Benedict, but I guess they mostly go by Elli and Ben. They haven't talked so far, but I'm sure it's because they don't know me." he explained, looking out through the kitchen door again and right at the couch, where his kids were seated, totally enthralled by the Cartoons. God, _his kids_. He was aware of their initials and it made him gulp at the meaning. René knew about Erica and Boyd. Stiles had told her about them and their complicated ally ship. It had taken Stiles a long time to come to terms with their deaths. Both extremely pointless. He guessed Derek would come to the same conclusion.  


" _It could be a Werewolf thing. Their mom never introduced you two, it's instinct to not trust you, even when you smell like family._ " Derek said, voice a steady warmth in Stiles ear. Damn, he had _missed_ Derek's voice, had missed Derek so much it physically hurt him now. His heart thumped harder in his chest.  


"René didn't have any family left, wiped out by hunters and I met her because she had been on the run from them. They were convinced she'd killed someone, but Derek, her eyes were still a beta orange-yellow and even the Werewolf on Rafael's force said she didn't lie when she denied killing anyone. Not even in self-defense. She just ran away. And now some ass-," he stopped himself and took a deep breath. Right, no swearing in hearing range of the kids. Gosh, this would be so fucking hard for him. "Burned her to a crisp. There might've been no love lost between her and me, but I still wanted her to be alive and healthy."  


" _It's okay to grieve for someone you've lost touch with a long time ago. Even when she wasn't your favorite person on earth_ ," Derek said calmly. " _Tell me how old they are, do you know their birthdays?_ " Stiles knew exactly what Derek was doing and he had to admit that it worked. He kept Stiles focused on the kids, no time to lose himself in sadness or anger.  


"You won't believe me when I tell you this, but it's actually Valentines Day."

" _Poor kids._ " Derek said sympathetic. Stiles knew that Derek's birthday was on Christmas Eve, so he probably knew best how stupid it could be to have such a day as your birthday.  


"Nah, their dad is a hardworking citizen, who earns an obscenely amount of money every time he delivers a break in an ongoing FBI case. They're definitely not going to be poor." of course Stiles was aware how Derek had meant it, but he couldn't let this opportunity go without gloating.  


" _Sometimes...I don't know why we're friends._ " Stiles had to laugh as he heard Derek say this.

"Because I'm awesome and your life would be dull and colorless without me." he stated with a grin he knew Derek would be able to hear. It was silent again, but this time he could hear Derek breathe softly. Stiles had temporarily forgotten about their radio silence for about a year.  


" _To answer your first question: I'll help you. And if you really do come back, I'd even play babysitter_ ," Derek said, something playful in his voice. " _I mean, I'm rich enough that I don't have to work, so I could give some of my free time to your little troublemakers._ "  


Typical, he had to make that jab, although all it did was make Stiles smile wider. "How would you know they're going to be troublemakers?"

" _Stiles, they're your kids._ "

"Touché."

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how it's handled in the US explicitly, but from what I read online, the backstory is: René signed the birth certificate in Stiles name in order to keep it a secret, but also make sure he'd get custody if she died and they survived somehow.
> 
> Also, the CPS coming up to Stiles and dumping the twins so fast? You can bet your ass the kids flashed their eyes and freaked the people out big time, they just wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible xD
> 
> After a little fine tuning we're at 19 chapters now. Unsure if I write an epiloge for this fic or if I just leave it like that. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! 💖


	2. Chapter 2

  


  
Stiles knew that the silence wouldn't last long, he knew it, because those kids had his genes. So, he used it as long as he could, changing the sheets of his king-size bed, that he would leave to his kids, so he could make himself comfortable on the couch that night.  


He sat down on the floor next to the couch, having already handed his action figures over so they had something to occupy themselves with, once the TV got too boring. They interrupted the story they played out with them and looked back at him. He took a deep breath to steady himself.  


"So, did your mommy ever tell you about your dad?" he asked hesitantly, locking eyes with one after the other. Eleonore made a move similar to a half shrug and a nod at the same time, but it was Benedict's voice that broke the silence.  


"Mommy said, daddy is veeeeerry busy saving people that are like us. That's why he was never there," his big brown eyes were staring at him, as he recited something he had probably been told often enough. They both seemed to have decided that they didn't have to be scared of him anymore. His answer made Stiles feel like shit for having resented René just a few hours ago. "Now that mommy is on the Big Moon with all her Pack, we had to have come here."  


"So you can protect us." Eleonore said in an explanatory manner. She was gripping his Thor action figure like she wasn't really sure if Stiles would actually protect them or just find a way to give them to someone else.  


Stiles gulped, a sudden lump in his throat. Clearing it he said: "Yeah, I'll protect you." Two identical, but hesitant smiles met him. God, he wanted to cry so much right now. "You know I'm your dad, right? You can call me dad or just Stiles. I'm fine with both." They nodded at his first question in unison.  


"You smell like mommy. Family," Benedict mumbled. "She always called me Ben or Benny. You can too." he continued in the same way Stiles had, just a little more serious. It was adorable.  


"You can call me Elli." she said, this time full on beaming. Damn, they were both so cute and very bright for their age. He didn't know why he expected anything else. René was an intelligent woman and Stiles, well, he wasn't stupid either.  


"Okay, I will. Do you guys want to go outside? We can go grocery shopping and you can tell me what you like to eat, so I know what to make for dinner. And after that, we can go to the playground at the park nearby." Stiles said, his lips quirking up in an easy smile as he proposed the idea.  


They looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation, just like before. "Can we hug you?" was Elli's shy question in the end. Stiles mused it had something to do with scent, because so far, they hadn't really touched each other and he guessed it made them uneasy to not have physical contact with someone they wanted to trust.  


Stiles just opened his arms in answer and suddenly both of them flung themselves down into his arms. It was strange, but also comforting. When he breathed their scent in, he was overcome with memories of René, they faintly smelled like her still and a bit like milk and sugar. Which was probably his doing with the Cheerios earlier.  


It stretched into a full on cuddle-hour, Stiles had picked them up and sat all three of them down on the couch, to be more comfy. Maybe he didn't have to sleep on the couch after all, it was nice and made him think of his dads hugs. He pressed them both closer and gave them a small kiss on the crown of their head each.  


He already loved them dearly, how was that even possible?

If the Hunter responsible for René's death would cross his path, no one would ever find a single dust corn of DNA of him, or her, that was for sure. She might've held the information about them back, but stealing her away from his kids was just something Stiles would never be able to forgive.  


Grocery shopping was a huge ordeal in the end. Stiles was happy he owned a car, so he was able to transport everything and the kids from point A to point B. The first thing he did, though, was borrowing the bumper seats from his neighbor, so he could safely drive with them. Bianca was very understanding and told him she wouldn't need them this week anyway, because her kids were with their dad for that period of time. Stiles still promised to give them back as soon as possible.  


He needed them anyway, so there was no point in stalling the matter any further.

So he bought the appropriate seats first and then it was like entering Hell. Stiles mostly went shopping at the most random of times, mostly late at the night, when there was just the occasional stoner around at the Seven Eleven. He didn't get to go in the middle of the day and now he knew why.  


There was a moment in which he feared he would lose his children on the very first day, but he noticed, that they voluntarily kept close to him. At one point Elli demanded to sit in the shopping cart and Ben soon followed. They told him what they liked to eat and pointed out which shampoo and bubble bath their mom used to buy. They were surprisingly capable and didn't even seem to be sad about their mothers death.  


Stiles had an inkling that she had told them about the possibility of ending up without her. The comment about the 'Big Moon' did stick with him. At least she had told them that Stiles helped Werewolves, so they had to know that people saw them as threats, which was so unbelievably distressing. It made sense, since she had lost her whole family to Hunters. And she had been so clever to leave her kids at Daycare instead of getting a nanny who would've been home too otherwise.  


Yeah, René had been a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

Although it did leave Stiles with the question, if she'd still be alive now, if she had told him about their kids. Looking down into the cart, where Elli and Ben discussed the pro and cons of Mac'n'Cheese over Spaghetti for todays dinner in hushed voices, he just couldn't imagine a world without them anymore. It was surreal.  


They caught him watching them of course. "Daddy! Would you make ocopusses like mommy did?"

He smiled. "Octopus sausages with Mac'n'Cheese? Yeah, I can do that." Stiles confirmed. It was a good thing he had done it before on a not so good day where he felt he needed a little cheering up after a particular gruesome case and remembered watching YouTube videos late at night for easy cooking recipes.  


They managed to get home in one piece and Stiles got the toys out they'd bought at target, put away the groceries and looked at his phone. Rafael had tried to call him again and then opted to just text his results. Everything pointed to Kate Argent.  


If Peter had done his job as psychotic killer right, all this wouldn't have happened. A lot of shit wouldn't have happened if he was honest.

**Rafael McCall**  
_Call me back_

Stiles stared at his last message, a weird feeling in his stomach. Sure, they got along fine now and maybe the good ol' Agent was just a tad bit overprotective when it came to Stiles, probably because his own son still ignored him on a good day, but it was still strange when he tried to be caring.  


Even Stiles had to admit at some point that Rafael wasn't a bad parent per se, just very dedicated towards his career. And yeah, okay it was Melissa who send him away and not his own decision to go, but he went and even though he came back for a short amount of time, he left again. Defeated, because Scott didn't want him there and Scott was nothing if not stubborn and mulish. If he thought you were in the wrong, there was next to nothing that could change his mind.  


It still felt like he ignored a lover and that thought was just so wrong on its own. He consequently didn't think about it as soon as his mind brought it up. He didn't want to know, even though he did.  


So instead of answering, he texted Derek how the day went and took a picture of his twins, who were playing peacefully in the living room, just to send it to him.

**Grumpy Hale**  
_They look like you, but in cute_

Stiles rolled his eyes, but huffed a laugh. Then he send _'Asshole'_ back and put his phone into his jeans pocket. He felt it vibrate once, but decided to not check it right away. He still needed to stow the new toiletries in the bathroom and put the new clothes for his kids in the washer.  


Neither Elli nor Ben had wanted to go outside, so once Stiles had put the clean clothes in the dryer and read the paperwork, he got started on dinner since it was already five in the evening now.  
The twins didn't demand much, so Stiles kept them hydrated and they did eat some sliced up fruits for snacks. He was relieved to find out that they could use the bathroom on their own, although he had to place a small box in there, so they could reach the sink and sit on the toilet.  


They were actually really quiet kids. His dad will probably be pissed, that Stiles won't have the same energetic ADHD bundle, he himself had gotten the pleasure of being a parent to.  


Then again, they were Werewolves and that in and of itself will get problematic, once they hit puberty. Stiles has absolutely no doubts about that.

He had just finished serving two plates with Mac'n'Cheese and little Octopus Sausages and pulled out his phone to take a picture, that he read Derek's answer to his text. It made him laugh out loud.  


**Grumpy Hale**  
_Dick_

"If only he knew." Stiles thought about telling him what pun could be made at that, but didn't and send him the picture of the freaking cute meal he just made for his awesome and even cuter children instead. The answer came quicker than he thought.  


**Grumpy Hale**  
_You'll be a great dad_

And if his heart made a somersault at that, no one had to know. His kids definitely didn't seem interested in whatever rhythm it decided to thump. Small mercies.  


  


  



	3. Chapter 3

  


  
That night, Elli and Ben wanted him to sleep in the bed with them. Even though they didn't say anything, Stiles guessed they were afraid he would leave them too. They were four years old, so no shocker there.  


Turns out, sleeping in the same bed as two little supernatural furnaces on each side was not as good as the cuddling earlier had promised. Stiles was sweating and waking up after random amounts of time. At one point he thought about heading into the living room to get some shut eye there, but as soon as he made a move that indicated towards him leaving the bed, four little hands clutched at him.  


Stiles was very, very tired when morning came, but he had some organizing to do and couldn't slack off. First thing he did, was calling Dana Miller, to let her know, that he would move back to his hometown Beacon Hills, so he would have more stability through family and friends and actually more time for his kids. She was happier about that than Stiles thought she would be. Maybe Dana was just delighted she could give their case over to another social worker in Beacon Hills? Who knew.  


He actually didn't care, as long as no one made it any harder for him to move back. He had already decided he won't drive to the other side of the coast with two small children in his car. So, that left him with scheduling a U-Haul, which caused him to be unsure of what to do with his car.  


If he played his cards wisely, he could probably get Rafael to let one of his Agents drive it back to Beacon Hills. Before he could talk himself out of the idea and just find a way to put his car together with the U-Haul, he actually called Rafael. The kids were still asleep, so he could use that free time without feeling bad that he kind of left them alone.  


Surprisingly, the Agent took his call after the second ring. " _Good Morning, Stiles._ " eh, too cheerful for five am. "Morning. So, you wanted me to call you back?" he feigned innocence. Like he wasn't the one who had dumped a meaningful message on Rafael yesterday via text. He had to clear his throat, his voice not really even yet.  


" _You said you can't help out for the foreseeable future, thanks to your new acquired fatherhood._ " God, did he have to say it so flat? It wasn't like Stiles couldn't work with that, it was just so much effort...

"Yeah, sounds like me. René apparently was pregnant before she left DC. She never told me and yesterday, a social worker literally dumped the twins on my doorstep, because René died. Was murdered probably." he said, as he sat down on the couch, he sank into it and leaned his head on the back, closing his eyes. "Look, I hate to bail on you, because I really like that job, but I just can't. I'm actually leaving DC and will just move back to Beacon Hills. It'll be easier with my dad there and my friends close. I already organized a U-Haul, the only thing that's left is my car. Don't know how to get that there actually. But you do understand that, ...me, right?" Stiles asked, but he knew the answer already. He had made his voice sound just the right amount of helpless when talking about his car.  


" _Sure. You're all they have. But, just so you know, you could still be a Consultant to us. You can do that in Beacon Hills just as well as in DC. Of course, you won't be part of any interrogation or field operation, but to be honest with you, I'd feel better about the last part especially, knowing you won't be there._ " Rafael said, sighing.

"Ouch, tell me how you really feel, why don't you?" Stiles grumbled. He was not unable to be a part of a field operation! " _That's not what I meant. I know you're good in what you do, but now that you're a father, I wouldn't be okay in sending you out. You've been reckless on the last two you participated in and...I just wouldn't feel good in sending you along._ " Rafael replied, Stiles could hear him swallow thickly. And okay, he had a point there, but Stiles was not about to get shot, because he was lonely or felt unloved! He was just...a bit blind to danger in the heat of the moment. Not like that's really news.  


"Are you worried about me?" he asked, still slightly perplexed about that fact. He normally refused to show too much emotion, but over the years, Rafael was lacking in that department when it came to him. " _Stiles._ " it said more than Rafael was probably comfortable with. And Stiles had this weird feeling again. Maybe he should really part with the FBI, just for Rafael's sake.  


" _If you want to, I can drive your car to Beacon Hills. That way I would be able to visit Scott too. You know how he get's when he thinks I'm only there because of him._ " Stiles inhaled sharply at that and felt a little bad, that he had played Rafael like that. But only a little bit, because a huge part of him was happy he didn't have to deal with it. He should probably not be in the same vicinity as Rafael when Scott was there though.  


There was just no good way in telling your best friend, that said best friends dad got the hots for him. It unsettled Stiles too, so he never, ever wanted to find out Scott's opinion on that, but he could make a pretty good guess.  


"That's, uh, very nice of you. Thank you." Stiles made a face while saying this, trying his best to sound genuine. He felt awful, and just a bit disgusted. Sure, Papa McCall was not ugly, but Stiles definitely had no daddy issues whatsoever. And anyway, he wasn't able to look at anyone in that way, other than Derek. Which was a problem in and of itself, but he was crossing that bridge when he came to it. Right now, it was just safer to live in denial about Rafael's feelings about him. That one time they had gotten off together due to an Incubus was like a black dot in Stiles memory. He didn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole, ever.  


A tiny hand grabbed his pajama clad leg and Stiles looked down at Ben. "Daddy, can we watch 'toons?" he sounded sleepy, Elli had her head on his shoulder as she stood behind him, probably asleep while standing. A Stilinski trait. And god, he was so done for, if anyone would ever so much as look at them wrong, Stiles would be going in full on Lioness mode and rip said person to pieces.  


"Hey, I gotta go, the twins are awake. If you really want to drive the car over to the other side of the country for me, you can come over tomorrow or the day after that and get it. We'll be in Beacon Hills somewhere around Thursday, just so you know." Stiles said, he had a house waiting for him not far from his childhood home. Perks of having Derek, proud owner of multiple estates, on your back and call.  
The house was nice, according to Derek and he could easily afford the rent, fully furnished. Ideal for his two rascals.  


It was a good thing he won't need to take much with him. Most of the apartments furniture had been here before he moved in. " _Okay, see you then._ " Rafael replied and hung up after Stiles said his goodbye.  


He took the remote and turned the TV on. Of course, it wouldn't be good to start those habits, but damn, what the hell was he supposed to do with children at this hour? His neighbors surely wouldn't like to hear them running and screaming around, if he'd get them all riled up now with playtime.  


They settled for _My Little Pony_ and while the two munchkins quietly watched, Stiles closed his eyes. _Just for a moment_ , he told himself and was out like a light immediately.  


He woke up to a small finger poking his eye. Kids, gotta love 'em.

Stiles turned his face away and rubbed his eyes, before opening them again. Elli stood on the couch and looked down on him. He seriously passed out sitting on the couch. Great, that will be beautiful for his back. "Yeah, sweetheart?" he murmured with a rough voice, still not fully awake.  


"Can we make pancakes?" she asked, her huge brown eyes going bigger as she said this in a hushed voice. Like she couldn't contain her excitement otherwise.  


"Sure," he replied, got up and walked into the kitchen. On second thought, maybe he'll use the bathroom first. A quick detour later, he got all ingredients that were needed and got started. "Chocolate chip or blueberry?" he asked them and they both said the opposite at the same time.  
"I'll just make both, okay?" simultaneous nods greeted him at that when he looked at them.  


It was strange how he was able to just accept this new reality of his life. Beacon Hills' escapades surely prepared him to adapt fast and make the best out of it.  


  


  



	4. Chapter 4

  


  
On Wednesday, Stiles doorbell rang and he was slightly confused for a moment, until he remembered, that Rafael would drive his car all the way to Beacon Hills and to do so, he certainly needed the keys. The twins were in the tub and he instructed them to behave and _please don't drown._ What he had gathered through the internet, was, that four year olds should be able to not drown each other. Also, they were Werewolves, so Stiles just hoped that gave him some extra cushion of time to prevent anything in that department, considering their enhanced lung capacity and healing traits.  


Stiles grabbed his keychain and detached the car key from the rest, because he realized he totally forgot to do so. All of his stuff was packed up in boxes, ready to be taken tomorrow morning. He went back to the bathroom just to make sure everything was alright and when he saw them both peacefully playing with their bath toys he visibly relaxed, exhaling a breath he had involuntarily held.  


The doorbell rang again and then he got a text, but he didn't stop to look at his phone, just threw the door open. In that moment he remembered he had taken off his soaked shirt and mentally face palmed. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. "Hey, sorry, the twins are in the bathtub so I really can't be gone for too long."  


Rafael smiled after his initial shock as it seemed. The once over he gave Stiles did not go unnoticed, but Stiles refrained from recoiling or crossing his arms defensively. It was a close thing though as his nipples hardened due to the gust of wind coming his way. "Yeah hi, uh, I don't like to intrude like this, but I didn't have time before. I should've called, I know."  


"No problem, here, those are for the black Jeep out front. The tank is full and a mechanic actually looked at it on Tuesday. Since I've only had it for a year, everything should be fine." Stiles said as he handed over the key, his hand rubbing his mouth shortly after, still in thought. He didn't want to forget anything, but he was probably going to anyway.  


"Stiles, this isn't the first time I'll drive this kind of distance. I'll be okay, your car will be okay and you'll be able to drive it as soon as you get to Beacon Hills. Don't stress yourself out." Rafael said still smiling, this time with a fond edge to it as he took the offered item.  


Before Stiles could say anything else, he heard his kids squeal and remembered to keep it short. "Uh, I really should get back to them. I'll see you then." Stiles declared. Rafael nodded and left, closing the door behind him as he went through.  


Stiles didn't waste a second and went back to his kids, who still played and had in no way started to wash anything. "Okay, let's get you cleaned up you two little otter."  


"We're 'wolves, daddy!" Elli squealed and then both of them laughed, playing with the huge amount of bubbles in the tub.  


Traveling with kids was not fun. Never, ever. Even though it would just be roughly two hours on the plane, but boarding, trying to not lose his kids in all the madness that was RRW National Airport.  
Stiles had seriously considered to get one of those kid-leashes, but didn't go through with it, because, well, Werewolves. It would be a tad bit speciest if he did that.  


It was one thing to make some dog jokes about his adult friends and another to treat his own kids like dogs.

This whole ordeal felt like it took forever and as soon as they _finally_ sat in their seats on the plane, Stiles let out a long breath and felt his tensed up muscles relax. At least here those little sneaky shits couldn't get away that far. This morning he had to tell those guys who were going to drive his whole shit across the country what they should put in the U-Haul and what had to stay. Stiles had gotten the feeling it would've been less stressful, if he'd just done it all himself.  


He and his little family had a row to themselves, with Stiles in the seat at the corridor, his kids looking out the window eagerly. They had been afraid at first, as the plane took off, but when they realized Stiles was not bothered, their agitation dissipated slowly. Apparently they fixated on his mood and wellbeing to calculate the situation. Smart.  


As soon as the plane got to its destined flight altitude and they could take off the seatbelt, Stiles got his bag from above him and took out the coloring books and crayons he got for Elli and Ben. The way their faces lit up was totally worth those overprized items he got at the airport beforehand.  


A stewardess asked him if he needed something and he declined. "But I'd like to rest my eyes for a bit, in case those little rascals leave their seat, could you wake me up? I don't want them running around and possibly bothering anyone." he asked putting on his most charming smile and got a warm one in return, when the stewardess looked at his kids.  


"Sure, no problem." she said, Stiles got the feeling that she was either a mom or aunt to equally small kids. But mostly he was happy to be able to get just a little rest and could count on her to wake him if needed.  


For a moment he watched his children softly talking to each other and exchanging colors, while drawing. Elli was careful and tried to not draw over the lines, Ben just went all in and it was hardly possible to see what picture had been printed on the page. He obviously just liked to blend colors.  


He would never say it out loud, but both of their pictures were ugly as fuck, although they still made him smile fondly.

A few days ago he came to the realization, that something in his chest had settled. Before, he had felt lost and lonely, in a way like he was running all the time and just couldn't find his main goal, slowly but surely getting out of breath.  


He knew that Rafael was right, he had become reckless at field ops. Somehow his consciousness had wanted him to stop, to finally just stay in one place and look around, even if it meant to hit a brick wall full force. And if that brick wall was a bullet penetrating his body, or claws slashing him open, so be it.  


Stiles was so glad that didn't happen. He hated getting shot or cut. The brief encounter years ago hadn't done much, other than make him feel alive at all.

Before he could get too emotional, he tried to get comfortable in his seat. "Elli, Ben? If you want or need anything, please wake me up, okay? I'm just going to nap a bit, is that alright with you?" he told them, making it sound like they had a say in the matter, just in case they would feel anxious again with him sleeping next to them in an unknown environment.  


"It's okay daddy." Elli said with a smile, Ben just nodded, not looking up while he colored a new page completely in green this time.

He ruffled their hair one at a time and then closed his eyes.

  


  



	5. Chapter 5

  


  
Stiles was woken by the announcement from their pilot, jerking upright and looking around. He found his kids sleeping with their heads on the small table, coloring books still open, faces firmly planted there. He brushed his hand over his mouth, unsure if he had drooled in his sleep, but luckily he hadn't.  


"Excuse me, Sir? You need to put the tables upright now," the same Stewardess from before told him and he nodded. "They were perfect little angels, don't worry." she added with a wink.  


"Uh, good to know, thanks." he replied, brain not online enough to really think about what to say. She seemed to flirt with him, but Stiles wouldn't know the difference to general friendliness right now anyway.  


She went over to the next row to inform fellow passengers about the same thing and Stiles turned towards his kids, carefully pulling them back into the seat and gathering their crayons and coloring book to put back into his bag. Then he slid the table up and fastened the seatbelt of his children.  


They were about to land.

Stiles was excited, because Derek would be there to pick them up. He hadn't seen him in a long time and wondered how he might look now. Did he have grey streaks? Maybe even laugh lines? Or possibly a man bun?  


His last thought made him giggle quietly. Derek and a man bun, damn, Stiles would pay to see that!  
Possibly combined with a long hipster beard and chest hair. Shit, he should stop thinking about that, it kind of turned him on and he really didn't want to reek of arousal.  


It wasn't Stiles fault Derek looked like a fucking snack all the time. He was only human!

Their plane landed and he gathered their bags to take off in the direction for waiting friends and relatives. He was packed like a freaking donkey and holding his kids hands, when he spotted Derek, who obviously stared at him already. There was no way to stop the happy smile making it's way onto his face and it was mirrored, even though a bit smaller, by Derek.  


He came to a halt in front of him, slightly out of breath, his twins hiding behind his legs. "Hey, Derek." he said breathless, although not because of the heavy bags, but Derek didn't have to know that. There were laugh lines, but otherwise, it was same old Derek, with slightly longer hair and still beautiful and sexy and...he should stop. "So, these are my twins, Elli and Ben," he followed Derek's gaze to them and smiled down. "You can trust Derek, he'll protect you too. And he's like you guys."  


When he looked back up, he could see Derek's shocked curiosity for a split-second. Did he think he wouldn't trust him with his kids? What a dumbass.

Derek crouched down and send a real and open smile towards his kids, which only resulted in Stiles heart going overtime. Okay, so maybe his children also stopped hiding, but Stiles was a little distracted now. "Hi." leave it to Derek to make real big speeches.  


Then he stood back up and took most of their luggage. "Dude, thank you, I thought I was going to crumble any minute." Stiles said, picking up his kids now, one of them on each side of his hips and followed him out into the waiting zone, where Derek's car was parked.  


"You don't look as weak as you used to be, so don't play damsel in distress, Stiles." Derek replied, making Stiles gape at his back. What happened to Derek? Did he get a humor update for his system? He almost sounded playful. It was cute, he should stop for Stiles sake.  


"I do work out a lot, but I'm still not part of your exclusive club, strength wise." Stiles countered, resulting in a look, that was thrown over Derek's shoulder.

"You were always part of our club." this shouldn't give him warm and fuzzy feelings, but it did. It implied that Derek had seen him as pack, always. Was it possible for a human being to turn into mush, thanks to too many feelings at once? No? He was about to find out, apparently.  


His kids were nuzzling his shoulder on either side and the next time Derek looked at them, his eyes turned soft and a bit longing. Stiles mused Derek had to be around thirty now, building a family wasn't so unusual at that age.  


They reached the car and Derek put their luggage in the trunk and then opened the door to the backseat. There were car seats for them already fastened and it made Stiles heart swell. It all looked so domestic. Them fastening the seatbelts on the twins and getting in the car.  


Stiles started to think he made a huge mistake in coming here. He had a foreboding feeling his heart wouldn't be able to take all this. Playing happy little family with someone who had never shown interest in anything other than being friends was going to be Torture, capital T.  


He was so deep in his thoughts, he didn't take in the short drive to their new home, until they stood in the driveway. As soon as the car stopped, Stiles looked up, like he got out of a trance.  


"Dude, seriously?" he sputtered. The house looked big, really big and expensive. There were vibrant flowers in pots lining up the walkway to the porch, which had also flowers everywhere. It looked well taken care of, paint not even close to being chipped. They both got out of the car.  


Stiles just knew this house had a backyard, added to the beautiful front yard he could see at the moment. Derek watched him with raised eyebrows and held out a key for him to take. "As you can see, there's a garage too and the pool needs to be cleaned, before you fill it up."  


"P-Pool? What the fu-huudge-ing hell??" Stiles stammered out, momentarily looking at his twins, still strapped in the backseat. "Are you for real right now? I told you what rent was affordable, this doesn't look like I can afford it! You promised me, Derek."  


"You don't need to pay rent, it's yours." Derek said, smiling like he dared Stiles to say anything against it. "You find all legal documents regarding the house in the office upstairs, you only have to sign them."  


Stiles was almost speechless after hearing this. "Derek...this is-, it's too much, you can't just-, why would you even do this?" he was emotional and very aware of it, when he looked away and around the neighborhood. It was just one street over from his childhood home. His dad was in walking distance. Derek had been considerate enough to pick this beautiful house, near enough to regularly meet up with his father.  


"I can do whatever I want, Stiles. And I wanted to do this, for you." Derek answered, catching his gaze and looking so damn sincere. How was Stiles ever going to be able to fall out of love with him?  


_Never,_ a nasty voice in his head supplied. _You'll probably die loving him._

"I can't pay you back. This looks like it's really expensive." Stiles said then, a little helpless as a rush of warmth took him over by Derek's words.  


"You don't have to. It's a gift, don't stress about it so much. I don't want anything in return."

  


  



	6. Chapter 6

  


  
He didn't want to get any more emotional in the driveway, so they got the twins out of the car and walked up the short way to the porch. Stiles was nervous about opening the door, but then just bit the bullet and turned the key a few times around until there was a telltale _snick_ sound, that indicated that the door was unlocked. Derek pointed out that it had a security system, too. Considering what happened to René, it was a good idea to have one.  


It was cozy and comfortable inside. Like it was waiting for a family to fill the silence up until now. Stiles looked around and touched a few things here and there, glad his children stayed by his side, equally awed. They only knew small apartments, so he could understand why they hesitated to leave him.  


The furniture wasn't cheap either. As the three of them curiously looked inside every room, Derek took the bags out of the car. The backyard was huge and equally colorful with different flowers here and there, a nice pool, although empty, on the right side of the yard.  


It was like a dream house, made up in The Sims and someone decided to put it here, in real life and gift it to Stiles. He still couldn't comprehend how he deserved this. He had ignored Derek for so long and now he did this?  


Maybe he had missed Stiles as a friend so much, that he felt obligated to do this? Keep him here?

No, Derek wasn't the type of person to manipulate others, he was too traumatized by people doing that to him to even think about it. He was probably just being nice, because they were pack.  


He heard Derek talk and when he walked over to the front door again, he recognized the other voice instantly. It was Rafael. Stiles mentally rolled his eyes. The timing couldn't be more off.  


Stiles told his children not to go outside, but that they are allowed to look around the house some more, if they promised not to break anything or themselves and then went out to meet up with the men outside. "Heeeyy! That was quick." he greeted Rafael, who looked at him with a happy grin, then checked behind him.  


"Where are the twins?" Rafael asked, brow furrowed. Did he think they were a ruse to get away? "Traffic was okay, got through sooner than estimated." he then turned gears.  


Although it did sound like something Stiles would do to get out of a sticky situation, it was still slightly insulting. Stiles acknowledged Rafael's last sentence with a thoughtful hum. "They're inside, I didn't want them to run onto the street unsupervised."  


"Probably for the best," Scott's dad said, kind of ignoring Derek now. "Hey, do you want to grab something to eat? We could talk about the new arrangement of your position with the Bureau." Rafael suggested.  


"I don't know, I'm pretty beat and my stuff will be here in a few hours, so I don't want to leave for too long. I guess Derek and I will take the kids grocery shopping and will cook something for them. I don't want them to eat too much fast food, you know." Stiles said, fake smile in place, successfully making it sound apologetic. He stood a lot closer to Derek now, hoping to get the point across.  


Rafael looked at them, one at a time and nodded. "I see. Well, I don't want to interrupt anything. We can also talk about it on the phone," he said then, handing over the car keys and before Stiles could register what happened, he was engulfed in a hug. This was a first in a very long time and it was still awkward, since Rafael was so tall. "Take care." he felt those words against his skin more than he heard them.  


Rafael nodded his goodbye at Derek and turned around. Melissa was luckily in walking range from here. Somehow Stiles couldn't shake that he looked defeated.  


When Stiles looked at Derek, he caught a strange expression on his face, before it disappeared. "So, this was awkward. Pizza?" he blew out the breath he had held.  


Derek frowned. "I thought you didn't want them to eat fast food?" His puzzled look was so sweet, Stiles felt like he popped a vessel in his eye as he contained the squeal making its way up his throat.  


"Pish posh, they're Werewolves, Derek. Also, I'm tired, I will not set foot into a grocery store today." Stiles responded, eyebrows quirked, smile firmly on his lips.  


"Good. The essentials are already there anyway." Derek said, the tips of his ears suddenly red.

"Aw, come on." Stiles rolled his eyes, his whole body really and went back inside after locking up his car. Derek was too perfect. The catch had to be his lack of feelings for Stiles, it was the only explanation.  


"What?" he heard him shuffle after Stiles. "You just said you weren't going to and now you're annoyed you don't need to? I don't understand you sometimes." Derek said the last part quietly under his breath, probably not meant to be heard.  


"Good, stop trying, you wouldn't be able to anyway." he snarked back.

"What did I do wrong? I just wanted to be nice." there was a hand grabbing his wrist and Stiles turned back to look at Derek. He actually looked hurt. That was not Stiles intention.  


"I know and I really, really appreciate it, Derek, I do. I just- have no clue how to behave with that amount of kindness directed at me. It's- It's a bit much, I don't feel worthy of receiving that." he admitted, breaking their contact. It had made his skin tingle and heart beat wildly and Stiles was just not capable of dealing with all this at once.  


The kids seemed to be upstairs and Stiles went there, partly to escape his Derek related feelings and partly to see the other rooms. Of course the Werewolf was following him. "So, you and Rafael?" he finally broke the solitary silence while walking up the stairs.  


Stiles promptly stumbled and just so averted face planting onto the top floor. "Excuse me?" he asked, horrified. He was sure he would never, ever give off any chemo signals, that could indicate for him to be interested in Scott's dad. Unless he would have that strange dream again, and that definitely didn't happen again after he stopped drinking.  


"I'm not judging you." Derek said, he had stopped halfway and looked up at Stiles, who had turned and stared back in disbelief.  


"Are you fucking kidding me? There's nothing to judge or not judge. I don't think about him in that way, never have and never will. Why would you even think that?" Stiles hissed exasperated. How was it possible that Derek got Stiles interest so wrong?  


"It just smelled like you were very familiar and...he definitely wants-" before Derek could finish, Stiles interrupted him.

"I don't care what he wants, _I_ don't want _him_. He can smell like he wants to fuck me until hell freezes over, for all I care, I will never reciprocate that. He's Scott's dad for fuck's sake. He's _old_." Stiles was very pissed off and still just angry whispering as to not alert his kids.  


Derek flinched at his last sentence and nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to imply..."

"But you did. I don't have time for that kind of drama. I have to figure out how to be a father, Jesus Christ. I don't want to fuck this up." Stiles said, burying his hands in his hair. He was so frustrated right now.  


Overwhelmed, with everything. Today was just too much in every way possible.

"Maybe you should start with not saying 'fuck' anymore."

"Oh, _fuck off_."

  


  



	7. Chapter 7

  


  
They walked down the corridor, Derek pointing out a guest room and Stiles potential bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, leaving three doors on the other side. And the office at the end.  


Turns out, they're his kids rooms, with a joined bathroom. This house was pure luxury. They were both in one of the rooms, which looked fully furnished, with toys and everything. He saw his kids playing quietly with dolls and cars at the same time, picking up Stiles interest as to what exactly their story was right now, but he had to turn away and close the door again.  


Stiles walked up and down the hall, pointing at Derek accusingly from time to time, until he was ready to voice what was on his mind. "You did this, too, didn't you? You bought them toys and you got all this stuff...God, Derek...I-I can't deal with this right now." he said, walking down the stairs to get away.  


"Where are you going?" Derek asked, panic clearly apparent in his voice.

"Just, outside, I need air," Stiles replied. "Don't follow me and please don't listen in." he told him as an afterthought, opening the door to the backyard and walked as far away from the house as possible.  


He stood behind some bushes at the end and crouched down, hiding his face behind his hands, he tried not to scream. It was a close thing though.

Like he already said, he was not able to deal with this. Derek was so perfect and all Stiles wanted to do was hug him and kiss him for being such a thoughtful and lovable person. But he couldn't, he would clearly overstep Derek's boundaries. He was not the type of person who just hugged someone or who was hugged. Otherwise he would've initiated it at the airport.  


He was the type of person who shoved you into any available surface and-

Nope, wrong train of thought, definitely not an improvement.

As quietly as possible, Stiles growled out his frustration, rubbing his face harsher than necessary, ending up with his fingers gripping his hair painfully. "Fuck!"  


Stiles was not going to survive this. He had too many feelings, it made him dizzy and his chest hurt from heartbreak at the same time. The lack of emotions for the past few years were a stark contrast to this right now. Or maybe he had a heart attack? Wasn't that a possibility at twenty-five?  


"Don't be dramatic." he chastised himself, gathering himself again and stood upright. He couldn't hide forever and he promised pizza. He was a fucking adult, he could deal with this.  


He would probably cry himself to sleep tonight, but damnit, he could make it until then!

As he walked back and made his way upstairs, he realized that Derek actually stayed put, although he was leaning against the doorframe, watching Stiles kids play, with a fond expression. "Thanks and I'm sorry." he said, receiving a half shrug from Derek.  


"It's okay, I kind of went overboard and you have a right to feel however you do." Derek admitted before turning his gaze to Stiles, his facial expression didn't change and it felt like a dagger through Stiles heart, as Derek's fond eyes hit him full force.  


He cleared his throat. "What kind of pizza should we order?" he asked, loud enough to be heard by his children, who immediately came out into the hall, screeching " _Pizza! Pizza!_ " to enthusiastically attack his legs, jumping up and down.  


He looked down at his beaming children and couldn't help but return their happy smile. "Daddy! Can we have pineapple-?" Ellis asked in a whisper shout, only to be interrupted by Ben stoically saying: "I want tuna."  


"I can work with that. How about you?" he turned to Derek, who had been watching them closely. Stiles couldn't decipher what look flitted over Derek's face before it was gone, the Werewolf seemed to go through different emotions at once.  


"Uh, whatever is fine." he answered a beat too late. "I like tuna, too."

"Great, that means I can order a big pineapple pizza and a big tuna pizza. I'm already starving just thinking about it." Stiles said groaning, as he held his stomach. He fished his phone out next and started to dial his favorite pizza place, which was still in business, because it was awesome. And Stiles hadn't been gone that long.  


  


  



	8. Chapter 8

  


  
They were sitting at the dining table and eating in comfortable silence, when it suddenly struck Stiles. "I should probably tell my dad now...," he said out loud. "Do you think it's better to walk over to his or should I just invite him over and give him this surprise?"  


Derek's eyebrows were answer enough, since he wasn't able to say anything fast enough with his mouth being full. "Yeah, you're right, I should definitely invite him over." Stiles said, already grabbing his phone to shoot his dad a text containing his new address and the invitation.  


His dad replied that he would be back from the station not long from now and come by in a bit.

"Should I leave before he's here? I don't want to disrupt your family reunion." Derek asked so damn considerate. Or maybe he was afraid the Sheriff would be mad at him for not telling him about this earlier. Probably a combination of both.  


"Family?" Elli asked, as she put a piece of pineapple in her mouth. Both her hands were a mess, Ben didn't look any better. Their faces were full of tomato sauce. It was the cutest thing.  


Stiles cleared his throat. "Yeah, my dad, your grandpa, is going to visit." Both his kids stopped chewing and stared at him.

"Mommy said her parents were on the Big Moon too." Elli replied.

"Why do you have a daddy? What about a mommy?" Ben asked, childish curiosity visible in his eyes.

Stiles scratched his cheek and looked over at Derek, which was the dumbest thing he could've done. He looked downright devastated. Maybe this 'Big Moon' thing was a werewolf version of heaven. "My moms probably with your mom right now. As for my dad, uhm, I'm glad and lucky he's still here."  


They both turned towards Derek and Stiles felt himself panic. "Where is your family?" Ben asked, his voice innocent and Stiles could actually hear Derek swallow hard.  


"They're gone, I still have a sister though." he answered and Stiles noted that Derek didn't say a word about Peter or Malia. He knows they're still alive, somewhere, but he's surprised Derek doesn't count them as family.  


Or maybe he doesn't think Elli and Ben would be safe around them.

"Like me!" Ben smiled widely just like Elli.

"A little bit like you, yeah. She's younger than I am." Derek replied, the heaviness was still visible to Stiles, but Derek seemed to do his best to conceal it from his kids as he smiled at them.  


"Oh...," Ben said, a little miffed. "Elli's older." he pouted.

"Yeah! I'm the big sister!" she chimed in and fist pumped at that. Before they could say anything else, the doorbell rang. Stiles stood up and then didn't move.

"Could you get the door? I'm gonna clean them up a bit." Stiles directed at Derek, who immediately did what he was asked to. Stiles took a napkin and held it under the faucet for a moment, just to get his a bit damp. "Elli, Ben, come here."  


_"Oh, hey Derek, didn't expect you here. Did Stiles give me the wrong address?"_

_"No, you're at the right house, Stiles just needs a moment so he send me over to open the door."_

_"Do I want to know what you guys did that would prevent Stiles from opening the door himself?"_

_"He's okay, he didn't get hurt, if you're thinking about that..."_

_"Son, that's not what I meant, but good to know he's alright I guess..."_

Stiles cringed a bit as he heard them talk and wiped his kids clean a little faster, now that they were sitting on top of the kitchen isle, right next to the sink "Now, be good for daddy and don't give grandpa a heart attack, he's human, like me." he whispered, as he took them off the counter and walked towards the door.  


"Okay, daddy." they said in unison in their cute high pitched tone, as they followed him to the door. Stiles noticed they hid behind his legs again, as they came closer. He rounded the corner and stood in front of his dad.  


"Hey," he greeted him, noticing that his kids were now glued to his legs, making it impossible to go any further. "Surprise?" he gestured down.

"You gotta be kidding me...," Noah exhaled a heavy sigh. "Stiles, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" he immediately replied to the accusation. Then he gathered himself and shook his head. "No, wait, that's not entirely true, they are definitely mine and therefore your grandkids."  


They both looked down, just as Elli and Ben looked around Stiles legs. "Yeah, I can see that. Christ. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  


"I didn't know either!" Stiles hissed back. "A social worker literally dropped them at my doorstep a few days ago."

"Days?? You could've called, Stiles." now his dad just sounded sad. Which he apparently was, feeling left out.

"Dad, I needed to arrange all this and I really didn't want to drop this bomb at you over the phone." Stiles replied, hoping his father would get why he did it this way.  


"Should we move to the living room?" Derek offered, making his presence known again. He had a point, Stiles didn't want to have this conversation at the entrance either.  


"Yeah, just, let me hug my stupid kid first." the Sheriff said and cut the distance to embrace Stiles in a bone cracking embrace. "I missed you." he said in a low voice against Stiles shoulder.  


"I missed you too, dad." Stiles responded, his tone thick with emotion. It felt like he finally reached his destination. He was home.

They settled down in the living room, his children on the floor drawing again with the crayons they had used on the plane earlier that day. Stiles sat on the armchair, while his dad and Derek shared the couch. "So, how-, no, where is their mom?" Noah asked, shooting the kids a concerned look.  


"She's dead. Did I ever tell you about René? The Werewolf Rafael's department saved a few years ago? Well, we kinda had something for a while and I never knew about the end result before she left. Looking back she was probably mad I couldn't give her what she really wanted. I worked all the time and didn't want a relationship, she seemed fine with it at first but it wasn't pretty when she left... And then, years later, I suddenly get a call and shortly after, a social worker visits me with both of my kids and tells me their mom is dead and I'm their legal parent." Stiles rattled off, hoping his children didn't understand too much of it.  


"Are they...?" his dad started to ask and then mimicked claws. It made Stiles laugh, reminding him of himself almost a decade ago.

"Yeah, they're werewolves too. The poor kids got my looks, but her magic." he answered, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "That's why I told Derek first, because he's a born 'wolf and grew up with other werewolves. I'm kinda winging it here, cause I never thought I'd be a father so quickly. And definitely not to supernatural kids."  


"Parenthood is often acquired suddenly. Not a single parent is ever prepared for anything, really. I had no clue most of the time with you. Christ, you had ADHD, I felt like the worst father all the time. And it didn't get better when you met Scott. He was so shy and quiet compared to you. I thought I did everything wrong. But Claudia...she was really good at being a mom. A natural talent."  


"Hey, dad, no come on, you're awesome. You've never been a bad father, I don't recall any time you were bad at all." Stiles replied blinking harshly against the tears that were welling up at his dad mentioning Claudia.  


"That's because you were too young to see my flaws. If you're lucky, they won't see yours either." Noah said, watching the twins. "They're so quiet. Is that normal for werewolves?" he addressed Derek, brows furrowed.  


"Not particularly. I was a mostly quiet kid, but my sisters...they had a lot of energy to put it nicely," Derek answered truthfully. He shrugged at Stiles questioning expression. "Cora ran around the house, even though we weren't supposed to and she broke a lot of things that crossed her way." he elaborated. "Laura liked to play tag with our cousins in the Preserve. At some point she told me I wasn't allowed to play with them anymore, because I tended to sniff her out, when she hid or jumped at her from trees."  


"Why doesn't this surprise me at all?" Stiles said under his breath. He looked back at his children. "But you're right, dad. They weren't exited to go outside and happily went upstairs, as I told them not to go in the backyard. That's not normal. It makes me wonder what René told them and how they lived before. I remember wanting to be outside all the time."  


"Until you got your computer. I recall you being glued to that thing for the majority or the time." his dad remarked.

"I was a teenage boy, what did you expect? I was part of a multiplayer online role playing game. Among other things. Wikipedia and YouTube did the rest. You can't give your awkward ADD kid a computer and think they want to go outside anymore. That's hilarious." Stiles snorted and made a face at his dad.  


"Yeah, until you turned sixteen and then you suddenly were outside and amid danger all the time. No offense to you Derek, but I wish he had stayed away from you back then. That didn't change when I found out about Werewolves and Kanima's and Darach's..." Noah replied with a heavy sigh. "Hell, I still don't like how involved Stiles is in all that."  


"I'm an adult, dad." Stiles countered, looking offended.

Noah pointed at him. "You're still my kid, no matter how old you are."

Stiles bit his lip and looked between his children and his dad. "Yeah, I get it..."

  


  



	9. Chapter 9

  


  
In mostly ignoring the kids, they found comfort in the new situation and the third adult in the room. Elli stood up from her place on the ground and went to Stiles, just to climb on his lap and hug him. "Daddy, is your dad goin' to protect us too?" she asked in a hushed voice. Although Stiles was pretty sure his father and Derek could hear her just fine.  


"My dad's the Sheriff here, of course he's going to protect you too," Stiles replied, kissing the top of her head. "He protects the whole city and that includes you two otters." She squirmed as he said this and then nuzzled his neck. Scent marking probably. He felt someone tugging on the leg of his trousers and looked down at Ben who pouted. Apparently he didn't like being left out of cuddle time. "Come on up, buddy." he encouraged his son and smiled as the little guy climbed on his lap too.  


"Aw, hell," he heard his dad say and directed his gaze over at him. He registered the way Derek looked away, the tips of his ears red. He filed that information back for later investigation. "I don't think you need to worry so much, you're doing great already." Noah said, giving Derek a suspicious side eye for a second.  


"Dad, I had to google what four year olds were allowed to eat. You sure I should be a parent?" Stiles asked incredulous, because he had, for hours. He still felt too inadequate.  


His dad laughed at him. "Son, you realize we might not have had google back then, but we did have a lot of books about how to be a parent and everything about babies and children. I would say, that it's normal to research something like this."  


"Do you still have those books?" Stiles asked, with wide pleading eyes.

"No, we gave them away when you were old enough to talk. Just ask me, or google. That'll do." Noah responded, smiling at Stiles. "So, what are their names?" he asked. They hadn't introduced them to his dad, because they were hiding and then too absorbed in drawing, but now that they were squashing Stiles internal organs, his dad seemed to think it was a good idea to focus on them.  


"Eleonore and Benedict. Their birthday is on Valentine's Day. Elli is a minute older than Ben." Stiles told him, smoothing over the fabric of Ben's shirt to pull it down. "They apparently don't have an alpha, René wasn't one, so I might ask Scott if he would include them in his pack, because I don't know if it's good for werewolf children to be without an alpha or if they even could be omegas at that age. Can they?" Stiles rambled on, question directed at Derek.  


The oldest werewolf in the room took his time to answer. He looked like he searched for the right words. "I'm not sure. I'm not part of anyone's pack either and I'm not an omega, but I think children shouldn't have to deal with being without a pack bond. It's necessary for them growing up, to feel like they belong, that they have a place." he finally said.  


Stiles let those words sink in, Scott wasn't in Beacon Hills anymore, Rafael had texted him as much. But he did live just out of town. Stiles figured he just didn't want to be too close to the hell mouth that is Beacon Hills, but not too far away from his mom either.  


"Can't you form a pack with the twins?" Noah asked Derek without ill intention, uninformed about pack dynamics, bless his soul. Derek's face was slightly panicked, but that would fly by everyone who didn't know him well enough.  


"No, Sir, that's not really possible, they're too young and I'm just a beta, that wouldn't really help, if they need an alpha..." Derek answered.

Stiles got the impression, that he didn't want to be here anymore, so he steered the conversation away from Derek. "Dad, it doesn't work that way, I'll just call Scott tomorrow."

"Kiddo, I don't think Scott really wants to be here." Noah pointed out. Stiles still hoped he was wrong though.

"We'll see." he replied as he watched his kids detach themselves from him. They jumped the short distance from his armchair to the couch and stood in front of Derek for a moment. Stiles only saw him flash his eyes at them for a brief second and guessed they had done the same to him.  


Stiles was sure Derek's electric blue eyes were the prettiest, even though their meaning wasn't pretty at all. He just really liked blue, sue him.

Or maybe he liked Derek a lot, anyway, it was a futile train of thought and was stopped abruptly as he saw his children gravitating more towards Derek. "Can you do the face?" Ben asked quietly and squealed in delight, when Derek actually wolfed out. René had probably done that too with them.  


Eleonore reached out and petted Derek's face. It was weird seeing him smile softly like this. Every time Stiles had seen him this way, it had been a life or death situation and not a domestic one.  


"Mommy could do that too." she stated.

"Oh yeah? Want to see something she probably couldn't?" Derek asked, as his face had changed back to human. The twins nodded simultaneously and Derek stood up. "Stiles, could you put my clothes into the bathroom later?" he asked, before suddenly turning into a wolf. A big black floofy wolf.  


There were high pitched screams of excitement and then he saw his children jump down to the floor, where Derek was. He sat down on his hind legs and Stiles could see him preen. If he didn't know any better, Derek had just wanted to one up René. But he wouldn't right?  


Stiles observed his twins petting Derek and eventually sitting on his back, while he walked around the living room. It was the cutest shit ever and Stiles definitely sneaked a bunch of photos, before he went over to them. "So, could your mom turn into an actual wolf too?" he asked out of curiosity.  


"No," Elli answered, dragging the 'o' longer than necessary, while hugging the neck of wolf-Derek. "Can we do this too one day?" she wanted to know and Stiles shrugged, looking at Derek for an answer, who returned his stare completely flat.  


"Sorry, forgot you couldn't answer in this form. Uh, I don't know sweetie, maybe uncle Derek can show you how, when you're older." Stiles said eventually. Derek cocked his head to the side like he considered this.  


Ben, who was crouching in front of Derek and poked at his big paws laughed. "Psh, Daddy, he's not our uncle."  


"Buddy, you don't have to be related to be family. Scott's totally my brother and he's not related to me either. Although, I still hope his mom and your grandpa will marry one day." Stiles replied smiling, he ruffled his sons hair and wasn't paying enough attention to Derek, which was why the wet tongue on his cheek came as a surprise. "Ugh, yikes! Why'd you do that?" he flailed backwards and landed on his ass.  


"Dream on, kid, Melissa is still going strong with Chris." he heard his father in the background saying, as he stared exasperated at Derek's smug wolf face. The doorbell rang a second time on this day and Stiles belatedly remembered the U-Haul that was supposed to arrive around this time.  


"Ah, fuu-huudge, that'll be our things, totally forgot." Stiles scrambled off the floor, grabbed Derek's clothes and threw them in the bathroom half heartedly, before he made his way towards the door. "Hey guys! Come in, come in." he said, opening the door as wide as possible to let them carry his boxes in.  


Wolf-Derek had disappeared in the meantime and reappeared with a surely face on.

"What? Did I do something?" Stiles asked, honestly not knowing what was going on with Derek.

"You forgot my shoes...among other things." Derek scoffed, picking his shoes off the floor and putting them on.

Stiles gave him a once over. Derek looked like he had before, he even wore his socks. "I don't know what that means." he said, his eyebrows raised in question.  


"Forget it." Derek replied, the change in his whole demeanor giving Stiles serious whiplash. The surely wolf made his way outside to help unloading boxes. The guys looked tired.  


"You wanna drink something? I could make some coffee..." Stiles told them, but they both shook their heads.

"Nah, it's okay, we stopped half an hour ago and had a short break. We'll be out of your hair, as soon as the transporter is empty." one of them replied with a slight smile.  


Stiles helped them too, sure his dad would keep an eye on the twins. He could make out their slight conversation and smiled to himself, carrying a box into the kitchen. Derek, the overachiever that he was, held three boxes at once and carried them directly upstairs, resulting in gaping stares from the U-Haul guys.  


"He likes to work out a lot..." Stiles said as an explanation for Derek's strength.

"...sure." one of them responded, still dumbfounded.

It was only on Derek's third tour upstairs, that Stiles walked into the living room and spotted black extra support Under Armour boxer briefs partly hidden under the coffee table. He suddenly realized what Derek had meant. "Fuck." he quietly commented, unsure if he should just pick them up and go upstairs to give them Derek or if he should let them lie there a while longer.  


He went with his first idea and snatched them up before his dad could caught up on anything. Stiles was running out of the living room and towards the stairs, halfway up he ran into Derek, who prevented them from tumbling down, by grabbing onto Stiles. "Whoa, sorry! Sorry. I just...found these..." he said, bringing Derek's boxer briefs up and pushed them against his chest.  


Only then did he realize how close they were and what exactly he was holding and what it meant. Derek was going commando right now and Stiles is under no illusion what kind of brand that was he wore. He really didn't need that kind of information while being so close to Derek. "You should...probably put them back on." Stiles said, swallowing hard and successfully made his escape back down without falling down the stairs.  


He made sure the transporter was completely free of his stuff and said his goodbyes to the movers. Then he occupied himself with filing through the boxes in the kitchen, putting his own stuff away into cupboards and drawers. His mind was still going back to how Derek had grabbed the front of his shirt and his bicep to prevent him from falling. They had been extremely close and all Stiles had wanted to do was kiss him stupid.  


Oh God, he needed to let off steam, if he was going to be around Derek now all the time or else it would end badly. Derek was so out of Stiles league he could be playing a different sport in a whole other Universe. Like he would ever want Stiles back, _yeah right._  


Also, he got kids now, there was no way in hell he would find anyone at all. Time to get reacquainted with his right hand.

  


  



	10. Chapter 10

  


  
Once Stiles mind and libido had settled down, he had joined the others in the living room. Elli and Ben were calling his dad 'grandpa' which made his whole face light up with happiness. Stiles chest felt too tight for all the emotions it tried to contain at seeing this domestic scene, Derek included.  


It was like the perfect picture of a future he just can't have. Well, not completely at least.

"I should go." Derek said as he stood up from his place on the couch.

The twins perked up on that. "No!" Ben said and Elli held onto Derek's jeans clad leg.

"Do the wolf again, please!" she tried to stop him and Derek smiled down at them. It was so fucking precious.

"I can't, I need to go home and you two probably should go to bed now." Derek replied, shooting a look at Stiles for confirmation, who nodded.

An array of "Please!" and "Nooo." could be made out from the both of them until Elli seemed to have the perfect solution.

"Can't you tuck us in? Pretty please?" she asked, making her eyes huge with anticipation and Stiles recognized it as their go-to move to get their way. Good to know.

"I don't know..." Derek trailed off, unsure what to do. He apparently was on board with it, but didn't know if Stiles would approve. Cute. He would be the death of him, Stiles was sure.  


"Well, that's my cue to leave, have a good night!" Noah ruffled his grandkids heads and left. Stiles was sure he was getting a call tomorrow morning.

"You both need to take a bath first." Stiles declared. "And you're going to help me." he said in Derek's direction, who nodded.

They made their way upstairs to fill the bathtub with water. Stiles riffled through the boxes to find the toiletries, bubble bath and the pajamas he had gotten them. There were soft looking towels with ducks and boats stitched on in the cupboard of their bathroom and Stiles just didn't even start to think about it.  


Stiles placed the fluffy bathmat directly in front of the bathtub. At Derek's questioning eyebrows, he elaborated: "Your knees will thank me later."

It didn't take long for the water to reach a certain point and there were a lot of bubbles foaming up the tub. He made his kids strip down and placed them carefully in the water. Stiles kneeled down in front of the bathtub. He had found their toys for the tub too, taking one of the cups and started to softly dump some water over their shoulders and back. He would do their heads later, not wanting to get any foam in their eyes if it took too long to wash them.  


"Come on, mirror me." Stiles said to Derek, who still stood there. He had taken his shoes off like Stiles beforehand and his socked feet were foreign to Stiles.

Derek kneeled down slowly, when Stiles pushed a wash cloth at him. It looked like a yellow duck. Stiles had one that looked like the cookie monster. "You take Ben, I take Elli." he told Derek who nodded. Derek watched as Stiles was about to wash Elli, Ben took one of the floating cups in hand. It was like the whole scene played out in slow motion.  


Ben filled the little cup with water and bubbly foam to the brim and splashed it at Stiles, giggling like it was the best thing he had ever seen. Stiles just blinked at his son, then he looked down and spotted red stains from the pizza on his shirt. "Guess it's a goner either way." Stiles sighed at the damp spots and took the shirt off. "You do that again and I just hose you down in the garden, I swear to god." it was not even a real threat, Derek could probably hear Stiles didn't mean any of that and the kids knew too anyway, because the next thing Stiles saw, was Ben doing the exact same thing to Derek. "Well, you did find a loophole in doing it to Derek. Nice. Definitely my kid. Not sure about the other one yet."  


And then Derek was laughing so hard, Stiles was afraid he sprained something.

"These...are so obviously your kids, Stiles..." he was still laughing under his breath when he started to wash Ben. Derek expression was fond and happy. Stiles had to stop looking at him. He was just glad Derek didn't take off his shirt too. He wouldn't have survived otherwise. Not that the _plastered to his skin_ version was any better.  


They were washing the kids hair, when Stiles felt a familiar prickling at the back of his neck, like he was being watched. He sneaked a glance over to Derek and caught him staring, a soft look on his face. "What?" he asked.  


"Nothing...it's just, you're good with them and you don't even realize it." the werewolf said, mirroring the way Stiles washed the shampoo out of Elli's hair. He was holding Elli's head back a bit and filled the cup with water from the tub, over and over again, while gently pouring it over her scalp.  


"Uhh, right," Stiles mumbled. "You'll be a great dad one day too." Stiles replied, not really knowing what to say. He did catch a millisecond of Derek making a sad face though. He didn't comment. Derek probably wasn't so sure he would ever be a dad and with his dating track record he's not so far off with that.  


It made Stiles sad to think Derek would never be a father one day. The guy deserved a happily ever after with a ton of kids, a huge family.

"Let's get you out of here, my little water rats." Stiles said to distract his own thoughts, as he pulled the plug to drain the tub.

"I thought we were your otters?" Elli asked with a pout.

"I don't want to be a rat." Ben declared, crossing his skinny arms petulantly.

"Pardon, my little otters, how could I forget something so important." Stiles responded, trying to hide his grin, when he reached for the towels, handing one over to Derek.

He heard Derek snort quietly on his left.

Stiles told them to stand up, so he could rinse off the remaining foam and soap on them with lukewarm water from the shower head. Then Derek and him took one child each in a big towel and out of the tub. They dried them down and put them in their respective pajamas.  


If anything else, this day had been a fantasy come true when it came to his domestic wet dreams.

  


  



	11. Chapter 11

  


  
When Stiles woke up that morning in his new house and as a father of two kids, he was kind of expecting that he was still dreaming. He got up and looked inside the twins rooms one at a time and saw they were still asleep. Then he went downstairs and riffled through the kitchen cupboards in search for breakfast food.  


Derek hadn't lied when he said he'd bought the essentials, or, well, he had, because it was far more than just the essentials. Frigging over achiever that he was.  


He'd been talking on the phone with his dad, while setting the table for breakfast for his kids and himself, when his dad casually asked if Derek also slept at the new house.  


"No, why would he?" Stiles asked, cutting up some fruit he found next to the fridge.

" _You can't be that oblivious_ ," his father said in return, sighing heavily and muttering under his breath. " _I don't know where I went wrong with you.._."

"Dad, come on, it's not like that, we're friends. He's great with the twins actually and he said he'd babysit whenever." Stiles argued, getting out the bacon.  


" _My point exactly._ " Noah replied.

Stiles put the pan on the stove and looked over all the ingredients. He had eggs, bacon and the batter for pancakes. Awesome, he was ready. "Dad, I gotta look after the bacon on the stove, I hope you have a great day." Stiles said and ended the call quickly.  


When Stiles had been twenty-two, he'd found out on accident, that sweet pancakes tasted even better, when he'd had some bacon in the same pan beforehand. So whenever he'd have the time or someone over, he'd cook the savory strips of flesh before putting batter in the pan.  


It was perfect, they'd get the best flavor of all time.

He wasn't even done with the first part, when his kids stumbled down the stairs sleepily. They went straight to Stiles and held onto his legs on either side, closing their eyes as they cuddled up to his leg.  


"Morning, otters, slept alright?" he asked, only getting a yawn in return for his efforts. He snorted at his kids, amused by their behavior and continued working on the stove.  


They seemed to have fallen asleep while standing, so Stiles cut off the stove and bent down. "Hey, you want to sit down at the table so daddy can continue making you guys an awesome breakfast?"  


Ellis was snuffling into his side and Ben snored softly, his head tipping back slow before he caught himself. Stiles laughed quietly to himself and got hold of both of them to place them on the chairs at the table.  


They both fought really hard at staying awake.

Elli won the fight, Ben's head met the table with a soft _thump._ "Is De'ek gonna be here?" she asked as Stiles served the first loud of pancakes and placed the bacon and eggs next to the toast.  


"I don't know, hon," he answered honestly. Stiles wasn't really sure if he could get away with asking the older Werewolf if he'd like to come around. And he was even less sure if it was such a good idea at all. "Do you want me to ask?" he turned back around and gathered the little plate of fruits to put them on the table too.  


"Yes, please." she said in the sweetest tone, before shoving a whole strawberry into her mouth, the juice dripping down her chin and onto her pajamas as he munched down on it.

"Okay...." Stiles blinked. _'Note to self: buy a bib.'_ He woke Ben up and stifled another laugh, when he saw him copying his sister. _'make it two.'_ Why did he think his kids would be anything but messy?  


He texted Derek _'My kids apparently bonded with you real quick. Wanna come over?'_ and set his phone on the table next to him, before he dug in too.  


**Grumpy Hale**  
_Not like I have anything else to do_

_'Now I feel special. I'm gonna tell the kids how high they rank.'_ , he fake bitched.

**Grumpy Hale**  
_You can tell them they're my top priority. The second point is keeping their idiot dad alive._

_'Har har_ ', he replied, rolling his eyes at Derek, ignoring the warm fuzzy feeling that spread out.

**Grumpy Hale**  
_When should I come over?_

_'Idk, you hungry? I made kind of a lot and the twins keep napping instead of eating.',_ Stiles texted him and attached a video of the twins where they were both eating with their eyes closed.  


**Grumpy Hale**  
_cute. I'll be there in five._

Which meant he was either going to speed or he was somewhere close. Stiles sipped on his tea and went through his phone. Realizing he had to tell Scott about him becoming their Alpha.  


He was just texting him, proposing that Scott could come over and get to know his kids, who are Werewolves and in need of an Alpha, when his doorbell rang. He looked at his kids who blinked their eyes open and thought he could definitely leave them for a short moment.  


Stiles opened the front door and was almost going to close it again with a firm _Nope_ , because Derek Hale was in basketball shorts and a tank top, sweating entire buckets of sexiness and Stiles was not ready for that, no, who was he kidding? He'd never be ready, no matter how long he prepared himself. "Heyyyyy, that was under five minutes!" he greeted him and made room for Derek to enter.  


God, he even wore running shoes! He'd become such a responsible and normal adult.

Derek laughed breathy and walked past Stiles, clapping his hand against his shoulder in passing. "Thought I could out best myself." he said, turning and walking backwards to grin at Stiles. "I was right."  


Ignoring the manly scent of sweat that followed Derek, Stiles threw the door closed and walked back into the kitchen. "No offense to your shorts, but why aren't you wearing real running gear? You know, running shorts? Aren't basketball shorts getting in the way?" he asked, inwardly freaking out that it was too obvious why he asked.  


The twins were a lot more lively now, ouch, his self-esteem was thanking them for going down again.

"Because I don't want to flash everyone....you know." Derek replied, taking a seat at the table after greeting the kids.

"You never had a problem before...skin tight jeans, running around the woods stark naked." Stiles lamented. "Why the sudden decency?" Stiles got to the cupboard and put a plate and cutlery in front of Derek, followed by a cup of coffee.  


"Thanks." he said softly. "And, to put it bluntly: I'm not a running fugitive anymore, I have neighbors, they talk."

"If you're afraid of gossip, I'm gonna burst your bubble now." Stiles countered. "They're talking about you either way."

Derek smirked, grabbing some toast and eggs. "What's your obsession with me wearing skin tight shorts?" he asked, nibbling on a piece of bacon.

Stiles almost inhaled his tea at that and cleared his throat. "I-I don't have an obsession, I'm just asking, _shut up._ " he got out and consequently didn't look at Derek as he continued his breakfast. His phone chimed with a text.  


**Scotty McCall**  
_YOU HAVE KIDS??_

And then another followed right after.

**Scotty McCall**  
_Of course I want to meet them. Wow, you're a dad..._

Yeah, wow. That summed it all up pretty great. He flicked his gaze over to Derek for a brief second and saw him directing a questioning look at him. "Scott." he stated. "He'll be coming by soon."  


"That's good," Derek replied. "Hey, do you want me to set up the pool? It'll be pretty hot in the next few days, maybe the twins want to swim?" he asked, looking briefly at the twins who perked up at that.  


Stiles was kind of glad that they deemed the conversation beforehand as boring grown up stuff and didn't catch on what they were actually talking about. Or rather how much Stiles had embarrassed himself.  


"We can't swim." Ben said quietly, like he expected to be reprimanded for even speaking about it.  
Elli looked like she didn't even want to participate in the conversation, staring at her plate like it held all the answers.  


"That's okay, you can learn how to swim," Stiles told him and both his twins stared at him in astonishment. "Didn't your mom ever go swimming with you before? Or did you wear floaties?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound accusatory.  


Ben bit his lip, so this time Elli spoke out. "Mommy didn't go out with us much," she said sadly. "She told us, the bad people would find us."

"Hunters?" Stiles asked and they both nodded. "Well, they won't get you here and we have our own swimming pool, thanks to uncle Derek."

"We told you." Ben said as he shook his head.

"He's not our uncle, Daddy." Elli continued for him.

"Anyway, how about today we play in the yard, while _Derek_ sets up the pool for us?" Stiles asked, this time remembering to not call him uncle, when both his kids were so adamant about him not being their uncle.  


"You play with us?" Elli asked in a hushed voice.

"Of course." Stiles answered with a smile, feeling a little bad for using Derek. But to be fair, he offered.

  


  



	12. Chapter 12

  


  
The swimming lessons turned out to be a good idea, once the pool had water in it again, which took a day and a half. Adding the right amount of chlorine and changing the filter prevented the pool from turning green in the future. Stiles was glad he'd been distracted by his own kids, because at some point Derek pulled his tank top off, rubbed the sweat off his face and neck with it and then continued to scrub the pool walls half naked. His body a chiseled glistening statue of sin.  


If he hadn't been able to direct his gaze to the pure innocence that were his twins, Stiles didn't know what would've happened, but his guess was spontaneous combustion. He had stared, gaping, longing and then a ball had hit his face and he was back online.  


Derek was going to be the death of him, Stiles just knew, in one way or another.

After the Werewolf was done, Stiles lend him some spare clothes and told him to shower off his sweat or else he wasn't allowed to eat dinner with them. Derek went home when they finished and Stiles took the kids shopping since they needed bath suits and swim trunks.  


And maybe a whole hell of a lot toys and floaties. Stiles might've gone a little overboard here.

The next day, water glittering in the newly cleaned pool and calling out to them, Stiles made sure the kids had changed accordingly and had their floaties on correctly, before testing the water.  


It was cold, the sun hadn't been able to warm up it yet, but Elli and Ben squealed when they sat at the edge, kicking at the water with joy. By now, Stiles had given Derek the second key set to his house, so he could just let himself in. While Stiles got everyone and himself ready, he came over.  


Stiles was so glad they had something to do as Derek walked around in only his white trunks. They would hide literally nothing once they got wet, Stiles just knew.  


They each took a child and held them afloat after lecturing them about the right way to swim.

Both him and Derek were standing in the shallow end, though even that this reached Stiles navel, they were turning around in circles while supporting a twin each. "Aren't you getting tired, daddy?" Elli asked after a while, promptly swallowing a mouthful for her effort and spitting it out immediately with a cough.  


Stiles had to laugh at that and shared a look with Derek. "I once held this hunk of a man afloat in seven feet of water, while he was paralyzed." he bragged, earing a fond eye roll from Derek.  


"Really? You were really paralazed?" Ben asked, turning a little to look at Derek.

"Paralyzed," Stiles corrected him. Another eye roll followed. "And yes, all he could move was his mouth for smart comments, but the rest of his body was pretty useless."  


"Stiles!" Derek exclaimed scandalized.

"What? It's true. You think I'm gonna lie to my _Werewolf_ children?" Stiles shrugged, turning around so Elli could practice the other way as well. "Anyway, I had to hold him up for two hours, felt more like four to be honest. Scott saved us though."  


Ben was frowning at him thoughtfully. "Why couldn't you get out of the pool?" he asked slowly, making sure to pronounce every word correctly.  


"A huge lizard wanted to eat us." Stiles told him, doing a dramatic voice and Elli laughed.

"That's not true." she said in a sing song voice, proud about being able to point it out and Stiles looked at Derek like he wanted to say _See, I told you lying is pointless._  


"Okay, you're right, but he wanted to hurt us." Stiles said then, letting go just the slightest bit for Elli to swim on her own. His hands were still right under her to make sure she wouldn't sink if she lost her rhythm.  


"But why, daddy?" Ben asked, apparently not sure why a lizard would ever want to hurt someone.

"Well, someone had told him we were bad people and the lizard had no option but to believe them. But then Scott shooed the lizard away and we could get out of the pool." he explained. "You're doing great, Elli." he commented as she swam a little further away from him, but still staying within reach.  


Stiles looked at Ben and saw him doing equally good. "You too, Ben. Awesome."

They switched it up to letting the kids ride on their back as they went into the deeper end. Since both of them wore their floaties, there wasn't much there could happy, even if they let go at some point.  


Although they were both Werewolf children, Stiles thought they shouldn't be in the pool for too long and took them out, toweling them off as best as he could and letting them run around in the sun, after he applied some more sunscreen.  


He did the same on his own skin and was about to sit down in his chair, when he saw his phone blinking with new texts. As it turned out, it wasn't just texts, but also missed calls from Scott. Somehow, he and his dad weren't that different, but he would never be able to tell his best friend that.  


He simply called him back. It connected after a few rings. "Hey Scott." he said, this time sitting down.  


" _Dude, I totally forgot to ask where you live now! I was in your old room before I remembered that you wouldn't live there with two kids,_ " he sighed. " _I kind of panicked._ " Scott admitted, which probably concerned the multitude of texts and calls he had gotten.  


"It's okay, if you're still at my dads you're not that far away actually." Stiles told him, looking over at Derek who had been swimming up until now, coming out of the pool like a frigging supermodel at a shoot.  


Did he move in slow motion or was that Stiles brain trying tis hardest to buffer and taking too long for it?

Scott had answered something and Stiles needed a moment to realize that. "Huh? What did you say? Oh, the address, yeah I'll just send you the location that's easier." he answered distractedly, hungrily eyeing Derek's wet body, his children squealing and laughing in the background turning into the same white noise as Scott's reply.  


It was so unfair that he had to be subjected to such utter hotness!

"See you then." he cut Scott off because he was just not able to concentrate anymore, he needed to lie down and close his eyes, before he did or said something stupid.  


So he did exactly that after sending Scott his location. "Did you even listen to a word he said?" he heard Derek ask with laughter in his voice.

"Not particularly, no." Stiles replied unfazed. "Why? Did you?" he asked, opening one eye to fix Derek with it.

"He said he went to his mom and found his dad there too," Derek answered. "He was just telling you how pissed off he was, when you cut him off." he went on, taking the chair next to Stiles.  


"Oops, well, whatever, he's not going to stay mad at me. Not in the face of those two cuties in the backyard," Stiles told him with a smug smile. "He's gonna love them."  


"How do you know?"

"Because he loves me and with them I said _copy and paste_ and voila, Mini-Me's." Stiles stated matter of fact.

"You're ridiculous." Derek laughed and Stiles heard the cap of the sunscreen open.

"But am I wrong? I'm going to answer for you: No." Stiles countered.

As usual, Stiles had been right, when he stood up and got to the kitchen to give his kids something to snack on, Scott came over and hugged him tightly. "My dads pissing me off so much." he grumbled.  


"Maybe consider forgiving him?" Stiles offered as advice.

"Never," Scott answered with a glower. "I just can't stand him and his attitude."

"He's not that bad once you get to know him actually. He can even be kind of funny." Stiles mused, cutting up the watermelon into tiny bite sized pieces for the twins. "Anyway, Ben and Elli are outside with Derek."  


At that, Scott went outside to greet Derek and then the kids, who apparently liked him after their initial shock that he was an Alpha. Scott with puppies and kids, really...  


Stiles looked at Derek with a raised brow. "Told you." he said in the smuggest way possible as they both observed Scott goofing around with the twins.  


"Dad told me the other day, that I can work part time at the station," Stiles told him, knowing Scott could probably listen in too. "And we all know that Rafael offered me a Consultant job again," he continued. "But I'm not sure if I'll take it."  


"If you like the work, do it. You could even work full time, it's no problem, I'll watch Elli and Ben with pleasure." Derek replied with a smile. Stiles knew that, but he wanted to be present in their life too. He remembered being a child and how thinly his dads time for him was spread.  


"It's okay, I don't need full time," he responded. "I think it's going exactly the way it should be going."

"As long as you're happy."

  


  



	13. Chapter 13

  


  
Scott promised him he'd be their alpha and left after a few hours of quality time with both the twins and Stiles. All that had been left was his new start as a Deputy and his life couldn't get any better.  


Well, it could with Derek at his side, but Stiles wasn't delusional, okay?

He'd been working for a week now, Derek staying home with the kids, or even going out with them to keep them entertained and trained their senses in the Preserve or backyard. In the afternoon he usually told Stiles how they were doing, causing a proud bubble to seize in his chest.  


Stiles had been frustrated when he came home this time, an obvious abuser had gotten out on bail and he could do nothing but watch and hope his wife left the city already. If she hadn't, Stiles was pretty sure the next call for domestic violence would have her show up dead in their shared home.  


Hoping against this particular outcome, he opened the door to find Derek cooking in his kitchen, his kids helping out as they did exactly what Derek told them. His heart squeezed to a halt for a brief moment and doubled up in speed right after.  


Then he noticed Scott at the dinner table, looking bored. Well, at least until he'd heard Stiles obvious reaction to the sight in front of him. His best friend cocked his head to the side, looked from Stiles to Derek and back and then smirked superior.  


Stiles eyes widened in panic and he gestured for his friend to _shut the fuck up_ with his whole body, his movements coming to an abrupt halt, making him look like he'd just had a spastic episode when Derek turned around, Elli sitting on his hip with a big wooden spoon in hand.  


"Hello Daddy! Looks what I cooked!" his daughter exclaimed in excitement.

"Taste." Derek corrected her.

"Taste what I cooked!" she said then and Derek expressed a little head tilt like he thought _close enough._

"I helped!" Ben said, sitting on the kitchen counter, obviously stirring around in a salad bowl. Stiles was just glad there were no knifes involved, even if it meant the salad would be a bit sludgy. Derek turned back to the stove and let Elli stir in the pot again.  


Stiles mouthed _Not a word!_ with a pointed finger at Scott who had the audacity to laugh at him.

He went around the kitchen aisle and stood next to them to taste whatever the hell it was that currently bubbled in his pot. Derek must've caught his gaze as he stared questioningly into the pot. "It's sieved veggie soup. Don't worry, it's edible for humans too." he told him with a small smile.  


After this reveal, Stiles gladly took the spoon offered to him by his daughter to taste it. It was surprisingly good. "Wow, you guys did a stellar job! Can't wait to eat it." he commented, giving Elli a kiss on the head and then greeted Ben, heaving him from the counter to save whatever solid part was left of the salad.  


"I missed you otter a lot today." he said into Ben's hair.

"What happened?" Scott asked with a frown and Stiles sat down next to him, Ben on his lap. He should probably change out of his uniform soon, but he was kind of reluctant to leave this arrangement right now.  


Stiles shrugged. "Justice isn't always very...just." he just said, feeling his neck tense up on the thought alone.

Only a few moments later, he felt a warm hand press exactly the right pressure point to dissolve the tightness in his muscles. He suppressed a moan in pleasure, letting his head fall forward limply. "Oh, God, thank you." Stiles said, wishing for Derek to keep going, but he stopped as soon as Stiles was relaxed enough.  


"You're welcome." the Werewolf said, planting Elli on the chair next to Stiles and started setting the table.

It was then that the doorbell rang, forcing Stiles to stand up again to answer it. He'd seen Derek already going in that direction and No, he was not going to be some kind of servant in his house, just because he looked after Stiles kids. There were limits and those included opening the front door to his own house.  


He hadn't thought Rafael would be on the other side, resulting in a scenario he hadn't wanted to pan out anytime soon. "Evening, what brings you here?" Stiles asked, realizing he was still in his deputy uniform, when Rafael gave him a once over.  


"I want to say the suit was more your thing, but somehow this seems to fit too." Rafael said causing Stiles to laugh awkwardly upon the weird compliment.  


"Thanks," Stiles answered. "You want to come in? Derek and the kids cooked today and we were about to eat. Oh and Scott is here too." he added as an afterthought, even though he didn't have to, because his best friend already stood there in the hallway with them.  


The next thing was strange and Stiles wanted to say he had no idea what was going on, but that would be a blatant lie. "No, I just wanted to tell you something, but I guess that can wait. Enjoy your dinner." and with that, Rafael left his house again as quickly as he came.  


"I gotta talk to my dad about something." Scott said with a glower and left right after him, leaving Stiles slightly concerned and confused. There was nothing to talk about, right?

"Well..." he shrugged, closed the door behind both McCall's and went back into the kitchen to eat with Derek and the twins. _His family_ , a traitorous voice hissed at the back of his head. "Guess it's just us." he told Derek and then proceeded to fill the Were's bowl, before he could.  


"How was your day aside from the unjust justice system?" Derek asked, side eyeing Ben who blew too harshly at his spoon and sending a speckle of orange green soup flying. "Buddy, you don't have to blow so hard, do it more softly. Look." he showed him, easily switching from Stiles to Ben, resulting in his son actually succeeding in copying Derek.  


Why couldn't Stiles just marry this hunk of a beautiful person? Ah, right, because he's not interested.

"It was okay, not going to be my favorite day, but still a hell of a lot more normal than any day I had in DC." Stiles replied, handing his daughter a slice of the fresh bread that apparently came with the damn perfect soup.  


When Stiles looked into the salat bowl he could spot the only solid parts were the lettuce and carrots, as well as little bits and pieces of the cucumber. The tomatoes formed its own sad soup with the squishy innards of the cucumber slices at the bottom of the bowl.  


Appetizing is definitely not the look they were going for with this dinner, but it tasted well enough to ignore it.

"And what did you three do all day? When did Scott even come around?" Stiles asked, as he helped himself to the salat.

"De'ek went to the woods with us!" Elli answered. "We got to run _as fast_ as we could." she said, a happy tone to her voice and gesturing with her hand in a _whoosh_ notion. "We ran and ran and ran. De'ek almost didn't catch us." Stiles caught Derek's eyebrows clearly stated _As if._  


"I found a squirrel." was Ben's cryptic contribution to the conversation. Stiles looked at Derek again to confirm that the squirrel was alive before and after encountering his kids.  


"He climbed a tree." the oldest Werewolf at the table explained, even though it only produced more questions in Stiles head. It had probably been all too obvious, because Derek continued. "He thought I wouldn't be able to follow. He was wrong."  


"De'ek can jump like action heroes in the movies." Elli told Stiles in a hushed voice, like it was some kind of secret.

"Yeah, I know Derek is some kind of circus wolf." Stiles replied with a wide smile, noticing Derek's red tinted ears at that. "You want some more soup?" he asked the room at large and three Werewolves held out their empty bowls. "Damn, eat some salad too..." he commented but took their plates one at a time to refill.  


"It looks sad." Elli told him, after looking at it.

"Only because no one wants to eat it. Come on, it's good." Stiles wouldn't have thought that that would do the trick.

  


  



	14. Chapter 14

  


  
They soon found a daily rhythm. Stiles with his job as Deputy, even though his dad told him he was too qualified for that Noah still gave him the position and Derek with his never ending free time and love for Stiles kids.  


Because it was only part time, Stiles had actually taken Rafael up on his offer to work cases from home. It would pay enough with both jobs and he had more time for his kids. Not that he didn't appreciate Derek telling him he would gladly babysit if he wanted to work full time.  


As it turned out, he was a great sitter and the twins loved him. He came home to the three of them cuddling more often than not. Or they were all in the backyard laughing loudly. It was all too easy to see Derek as someone more than a sitter.  


Scott had even come around a few times and was just as smitten with Stiles twins. It took three visits from him, for Elli and Ben to call him Uncle Scott and Stiles felt his heart bubble up with love at the perplex but happy look Scott sported after that.  


Maybe he would even start to come around Beacon Hills more often now, Melissa would probably like that too.

The only thing Stiles still didn't get any info on was the day he had invited Rafael inside and as soon as Scott had seen him, the older man left, closely followed by his son. No matter how often he had asked his best friend, there was not a single straight answer he got to what had happened between them and eventually he gave up.  


Over the last week, his kids had opened up more and more, showing Stiles their real self's. It was heartbreaking to realize how much of their own personality they had hidden out of fear of not being liked. Derek told him one afternoon, that Ben admitted that the social worker had told him they should better behave and stay quiet or their dad wouldn't want them.  


Stiles had felt like punching something and equally cry his eyes out at that. He'd went to his kids immediately and hugged them tightly, telling them how much he loved them and that he would never give them away willingly.  


To say that day was emotional, was quite the understatement.

And the days went on and his love for Derek only grew, seeing him interact with his kids or the soft smiles he send Stiles, it was just so unfair to know he could never have this. They even managed to fall asleep on the couch together, after being out in the Preserve the whole day.  


To make things worse, of all the people he knew in Beacon Hills, it was Jordan who asked him out. A guy he had always labeled as straight. Well, that had obviously been a mistake.  


As soon as he got home on that day, it was one of those where Derek had obviously spend the majority with the kids in the pool and was now passed out on the couch while Frozen played in the background. It was so darn cute it almost ripped his heartstrings right out as his heart seized up with too many feelings at once.  


"This is unfair..." he whispered, wishing this could just be his family already and not just his kids with the Nanny. Stiles was still in his work clothes as he stood there, gripping his own hair to make his frustration stop somehow.  


Derek must've heard him, because he blinked awake and smiled at Stiles in greeting, just to stop and frown. "What's wrong?" the Werewolf asked lowly, not wanting to wake the twins.  


He stared at Derek intently, wanting to catch any reaction when he said: "Jordan asked me out." Stiles heart was pounding and there was a whirlwind of emotions, mostly disappointment, when Derek's face stayed blank.  


"Today? You need me to stay longer? Or I could come back in the evening, if that's when you have the date." Derek simply offered like the perfect friend he was. Stiles felt bad for how much he wanted him to be jealous and do _something._ They obviously had moments where it seemed like they were flirting, or where Derek had been staring at him for a little too long, but now Stiles thought it might've been all in his head.  


He'd probably projected his own feelings onto Derek. God, it just hurt so much being rejected without even being outright rejected. Stiles mused that would've been even harder and he should be thankful for how it turned out. "Do you really want me to go?" he tried, biting his lower lip and waiting for an answer. He had already told Jordan that he wouldn't be able to and had only gotten a brilliant smile and a ' _Don't worry'_ in return.  


"You deserve to be happy, Stiles. If you want to go on a date with Jordan or anyone really, why should I be against that?" Derek asked, his voice even and feeling like a knife to Stiles heart.  


"I..," he didn't know what to say. All he wanted was right here and Derek pushed him to someone else. It couldn't get any clearer than that. He sucked in some air and took a step backwards. "I'll be back, I..," _he what?_ Needed to curl up in a ball and cry for days like a stupid teenager who got his hopes up and then crushed in a second? Yeah, maybe. "I need some air." he rushed out.  


Stiles walked right out, not even stopping to check if he closed the front door after himself and walked away. He initially didn't know where he was going, until he stood in front of his childhood home. His dad's car parked in the driveway and Stiles just went inside, already suppressing the first sob, but letting lose once he found his father in the dining room, hunched over his files. " _Dad._ " he announced his presence, earning a confused expression from his father.  


He was a grown ass man crying like a little child, subconsciously, Stiles could understand his dad's bewildered look. "Kid, what's wrong? Are the twins okay?" he instantly stood up and went around the table to get to Stiles.  


"They're okay, they're with Derek..." he sniffed in answer, his voice wobbling. It was so weird that even now his dad's embrace made him feel the safest. And he did hug him tight, like he could put all the broken Stiles-pieces back together, without even knowing what was wrong.  


He didn't know how long they stood there, but at some point there weren't any tears left and Noah made him sit down. His dad put a water bottle in front of him and then poured him a glass of Whiskey. "What happened." he demanded.  


It was hard to decide what to drink first, but under the hard scrutiny of his dad's stare he decided to take a few gulps of water first. The Whiskey after burned his throat, but he downed it in one go anyway. When his dad poured him two fingers this time and himself a glass only to put the bottle away, Stiles played with the glass uncertain.  


"I'm in love with Derek," Stiles said a beat later, taking a slow sip this time. "He...he doesn't love me back."

He heard his dad scoff. "Did he say that?" he asked Stiles, resulting in him looking up confused.

"Not in those exact words, but he pushed me towards Jordan. Told me he'd babysit if I wanted to go on dates. I mean...isn't that obvious enough?" Stiles asked in return. "All I want is him and he doesn't want me." he said, his lip trembling again.  


"Stiles, I think you misunderstood Derek quite a lot," Noah replied. "Drink up, it's the last you'll get from me today," he said firmly and Stiles complied. "Anyway, this man gave you a house, a home and he's actively playing a part in your kids lives. I know you two hadn't been talking much for about a year now, when you were still in DC and you want to know how I know?" his dad asked rhetorical. He drank from his Whiskey to hide a knowing smile.  


"How do you know...?" Stiles responded, giving into his dad.

"Because he came around here more and he talked to me, mostly about you. He missed you a lot, Stiles and the way you had brushed him off so much had hurt him." Noah said, looking closely at his son.  


"Were those his exact words?" Stiles wanted to know.

His dad sighed. "No, but I didn't become the Sheriff for my good looks, you know. He didn't say it in so many words, but what he did say and the way he looked, told me everything I needed to know," Noah replied. "He loves you and he loves your kids." he insisted.  


"You really think so?" Stiles asked unsure.

"No, _I know so_ ," his dad stressed. "And now stop feeling sorry for yourself. There's a family waiting for you at home and you should get back to them to clear things up between you and Derek." he said sternly and Stiles gulped, drinking the rest of his Whiskey, still uncertain, but he did as he was told.  


He slowly walked back home, unsure of how to even start the conversation, when he got to his house and saw the front door was still open.

  


  



	15. Chapter 15

  


  
Stiles was flying through the front door, as he saw it stand slightly ajar. "Derek!? Elli? Ben? Where are you?" he asked, his voice a stark difference to the quiet of his house. He tried again, but there was no reply.  


"No, this can't be happening." he whispered, taking his phone out and calling Derek at once. It took him a moment to realize the vibrating sound coming from the living room was Derek's phone ringing under the couch. "Fuck." Stiles reached under to take a hold of it. There was blood on the screen and now that he actually looked at the room as a whole he could see that it was rumbled and there were little blood splatters everywhere.  


"God, no." he said, turning everything upside down, as he fought the oncoming panic attack. "Elli?? Ben! Please come out if you're here!" he yelled, opening the closet and cupboards, hoping his kids just hid somewhere. There was nothing downstairs, so he took the stairs two at a time to search the other rooms.  


It was an hour later, that he had to accept his kids were nowhere to be found. Someone had taken his children and Derek. And it seemed to have been violent.  


Whoever had them, was going to pay. That was for sure.

Stiles loosened the grip he had on his phone and called Rafael to get his team here as soon as possible. "Hey, are you still in town?" he asked in lieu of a normal greeting.  


" _Hi Stiles. Yeah, why are you asking?_ " Rafael responded. Stiles was not going to think about the fact that it didn't even ring twice before he had picked up the phone. "My kids and Derek are gone. His phone lay under my couch with a bloody screen, the living room is a mess. No other hints. The front door had been ajar." Stiles recited, breathing evenly in and out to stop himself from freaking out over the fact the majority of the most important people in his life were gone.  


" _Okay, that excludes Derek taking them. He wouldn't leave his phone behind-_ " Rafael began, but Stiles interrupted him at once. "He wouldn't take them. Derek has no reason to kidnap my kids. I trust him, you know that."  


" _Do you think René's murderer took them?_ " Rafael asked the question Stiles had consequently ignored. It was just a confirmation now, with someone else coming to the same conclusion. "It has to be Kate Argent. I'm surprised she didn't burn my house down."  


" _It means they could all still be alive, we should be happy about that. I'm coming over right now. I contacted my team via text too, they're already digging deep. There has to be something they left behind. Stiles, we'll find them, they're gonna be okay._ " Rafael tried to reassure him, but Stiles couldn't think straight, he was so angry.  


"They'll better be, or I'm going to tear Kate apart when I find her. Scratch that, I'll do it anyway, that bitch deserves to die either way. But if she touched my kids- I'll make it hurt." he growled.  


" _Stiles, calm down. You need to be level-headed enough, or otherwise I won't let you be a part of this._ " Rafael replied.

"Try to hold me back, then." Stiles promised, a dark look on his face and cut their conversation immediately.

Then he called his dad to let him know. He was shocked, but remained calm and collected enough to call in his deputies to help. He promised Stiles that he would be over shortly after.  


While waiting, Stiles went through his closet, pulling out his protective gear and clothing meant for field op's. When he had moved in, Stiles had found a hidden space in the back, where he had stored his weapons in a locked box. He got that out too. It was heavy, thanks to the long sword Chris had given to him at some point. Stiles knew it had been used to cut werewolves in half for years, now Kate's name was written all over its length. He would bath it in her blood, if he got the chance to do so. It would be poetic justice.  


There was a swat knife too, which his werewolf colleague had handed him after a particularly nasty case. He had laid them both out on the floor, next to his nine millimeter. The doorbell rang and Stiles went downstairs to get it.  


His dad and Rafael were on the other side, both not happy to see each other, but determined to get past their animosity for the greater good. When he let them in, Stiles saw Parrish coming up the driveway in his cruiser. He let the door open. He messaged Peter in hopes he would be able to catch a scent before the FBI force would be there. He loathed him and didn't like the thought of Peter anywhere near his kids, but if he had to choose, he would rather have him near them, than a hunter. Stiles was biting his nails anxiously as he briefly noticed Rafael's almost healed split lip, but he couldn't concentrate on how he got that right now.  


"My team found a few street camera feeds," Rafael tapped the screen of his phone and then handed it to Stiles. "I don't know if that is Kate Argent in the passenger seat, but I'm pretty sure the one driving is Monroe."  


"It's them, definitely. I'd recognize her face anywhere," Stiles said. "When was this and where are they going?" he asked, handing the phone back.

"Not long before you called. Luckily it seems they're going into town. There should be more cameras to catch them. I told you, we'll find them." Rafael replied, laying a reassuring hand on Stiles shoulder, who nodded just a bit in acknowledgement. Stiles saw his dad's calculating gaze flitting between them, then he went into the living room, where Parrish already took in the scene.  


"There was definitely a fight. If this is blood, I guess we should be happy they're all werewolves and can heal from a lot," Parrish remarked. "Not that it wouldn't leave psychological scars..." he added as he received a cold look from Stiles. "Did you see the claw marks on the armchair? They're too low for being from Derek. They were dragged away. That means there have to be more than just two people. They would need two just for Derek alone, two more for the kids."  


"I texted Peter, maybe he'll be able to pick up their scent and determine how many people were here exactly." Stiles told them. _And whose blood it is that was shed on my living room floor._  


He had distracted himself by changing into the more appropriate clothes upstairs, weapons secured on a special belt around his hips. The swat knife being the only one strapped to his thigh.  


Stiles was nearly vibrating out of his skin, when he finally heard a low rumble of an expensive sounding car. _Of course he bought another one._ Stepping outside to greet Peter, actually helped him to calm down.  


"Stiles." Peter drawled in the usual way of his, after getting out of the small and sleek car. It looked just as expensive as it sounded.

"Peter," he countered. "I hope you can help me find my kids and Derek."

"Wouldn't want my nephew to get killed," Peter replied with a smile. "Again." he added.

"We're pretty sure Kate and Monroe got them, but there have to be more than those two to get them all at once." Stiles filled him in, watching as Peter's face soured in disgust as he mentioned Kate.  


"I can already smell her." he snarled, following Stiles inside. This probably brought back a lot of memories for Peter. Even the ones where he had worked with her willingly. He clearly didn't like her and even at the time they worked together, he had only used Kate for his own benefit. God, Stiles was glad Peter had been in Eichen House for a while to not be such a psycho anymore.  


He watched as Peter went inside, looking around and taking a deep breath. His left eye twitched. "They cried in distress and fear," he said, walking around the turned coffee table. "That's Derek's blood on the phone and the splatters here and here," he pointed at two different areas. Peter's mouth turn downwards in anger when he took another few steps around. He pointed to a different area on the floor. "Those are from the girl." he sounded as angry as Stiles felt. Hurting kids was against Peter's moral code, who knew.  


"How many hunters are there?" Noah asked, probably sensing how angry Stiles got.

Peter inhaled again and furrowed his brows in concentration. "Five, maybe six. Two of them got hurt also, their blood is over there." he pointed at a part of the floor next to the armchair. Parrish got a sample of it, probably to run it in the system. "Your kids fought back, I'm impressed." Peter said, looking over at Stiles. "Want to drive shotgun?" he asked then, following the scent outside.  


"Hell yes." Stiles replied immediately and followed Peter outside. He ignored his dad and Rafael who called out to him, the latter even going so far as holding his arm to stop him, Stiles twisted his way out of the grip and then he slid into the passenger seat.  


"Nice sword by the way." Peter commented.

"Thanks, thought it would be lovely to kill her with one of their own weapons." Stiles responded, fingers gliding over the sheath. He had trained with it for years now, but never actually used it in battle. Most of his opponents could be caught or died by a Wolfsbane bullet.  


  


  



	16. Chapter 16

  


  
Every now and then, Peter sniffed the air coming in through the window and took a turn or drove on. It was different from when Scott had played bloodhound. They were driving through the city until they came back out of it again, somewhere near abandoned factories and warehouses.  


It brought back memories. He exchanged a meaningful glance with Peter for a split-second, he probably thought the same.

They stopped in front of an old building, a few windows were smashed in, but there was faint light coming from inside. Before he got out, he halted Peter. "You stay here and wait for the others. I go inside and check if they're inside."  


"I know they are, I can hear their heartbeats," Peter replied casually. "There are fifteen people inside this building."

"It's equal parts creepy and cool that you can tell," Stiles commented. "Anyway, don't come after me, you need to give them a heads up when they arrive."  


"Sir, yes, Sir." Peter mocked and got a flat look in return. Stiles texted his dad the address and got out of the car.

There was no one around to stand guard, so Stiles quietly slinked towards the door. When he arrived, he checked his gun for a second time this evening, making sure it was loaded and ready to go, although he would use the knife preferably, as it was way quieter than a gun shot would be.  


He opened the door almost soundlessly, as he looked over his shoulder, seeing multiple cars siding up with Peter's. His dad and Rafael had arrived, as well as the majority of the Sheriff's department.  


Stiles slid through the door without hesitation, catching Rafael's disappointed face as he did so.

Peter probably filled them in right now, as Stiles walked cautiously through the building. He didn't spot a single soul in the first few corridors.

There was a door slightly open, light filtering into the hallway and he heard voices. The other hunters, he mused. He soundlessly walked past the door, looking inside for a moment. He counted seven in there. The others would get the most of those fuckers right away then.  


He turned right the next time the corridor split and suddenly came face to face with Monroe. For a second he was just as startled as her, then he put his hand over her mouth before she could yell out a warning and pushed her against the wall with his whole weight.  


Stiles took his knife out and put it to her throat. "You sure didn't expect this, huh?" he whispered into her ear. Her eyes went huge and panicked, when she felt the cold metal of the blade penetrating her skin. "Shh, this won't take long. You hurt my kids, it's your own fault for picking the wrong battle." As he cut her aorta, he felt the warm gush of blood wash over him and she sank down to the ground choking, limb in his hold.  


He heard his dads deputies rounding up the hunters and moved forwards. Kate had to be here somewhere further away from the others. And obviously with his kids and Derek. Stiles put the knife away and drew his gun, training it forwards, as he walked down the corridor, listening for anything. Most of the rooms he passed were empty and dark, one was closed and Stiles was sure it contained the other hunters when he heard them laughing inside, but they were not his main goal. At the end of the hallway was a fireproof door leading down into a basement or up onto the next floor.  


Stiles went with his gut and took the stairs down. Kate was a creature of habit, she liked the way she could hide underground.

There was a whole ground floor as it turned out and Stiles began to get agitated. _He wanted his family back._  


He filed through every door, until there was only one left. Without making a sound he opened the door slowly, taking in what's on the other side. Derek was strapped to a metal table, seemingly getting electrocuted the whole time to stay put. His kids were bloody and sitting in a small cage, embracing each other. They looked terrified.  


Then there was Kate, smiling widely at Stiles, who kicked the door open the rest of the way, no need to hide anymore, she had seen him anyway now. "Would you look at who's joining our little party? The token human." Kate taunted. She stood next to Derek, one of her hands gliding over Derek's torso, shirt in shreds, barely even there anymore.  


"Let my family go." Stiles snarled, anger taking over, as he pointed his gun right at Kate's head.

"The little puppies are actually yours, honey? Disgusting, reproducing with monsters," Kate said. "They were fun to hurt, I have to admit." she smirked, obviously trying to rile him up even more so he would take a wrong step.  


He wouldn't, he was trained for this shit and wouldn't let his emotions get in the way. But it was hard to when he heard the sobs of his twins, calling out to him. "Daddy!"  


"Aw, isn't that too cute? _Daddy, daddy,_ " she mocked them. "He won't be here for long, sorry kids. He's a fragile little human." As she advanced on him with her claws out, he walked around a few of her torture devices to dodge a direct attack. He still knew that she was a Werejaguar. That bit of information would never leave his brain.  


"What are you even doing here, Kate? You're not a hunter anymore, you're not even human, if you ever had been at all," Stiles called out, readjusting the gun in his hand. He didn't let her out of his sight. "You're a living mockery of what you once were. Have some dignity."  


She growled and shifted at that. Stiles smiled, knowing he pushed the right buttons. "I will rip you apart." she promised.

"Killing innocent people is your thing right? Just like preying on innocent young boys. What are you now, pushing forty? You were thirty ten years ago already," Stiles said, his smile widening as he heard metal giving in under claws. "I remember your comments on Scott back then, who was still sixteen. And I know what you did to Derek when he was still a kid too. You're a pedophile, Kate. A disgusting, old pedophile." he went on, ducking behind a desk, when she threw something at him.  


"Shut up!" she yelled.

"How many were there, Katy? Someone like you wouldn't do this only once. There have to be more." he was taunting her now. Making her angry, reckless. "Did you think you could disguise it as killing monsters when you seduced little boys to get to their family? I know all about the Werewolves houses burning down around the country. You never stopped."  


"I was told to do it!" she roared. This was what he had wanted, she had to be livid, not noticing him advancing on her. "They were all so gullible, so easy." she growled around her fangs as if it was an excuse for her killing them.  


Stiles pushed his hand into his pocked to get to his stashed mountain ash, before running up to her. He stood directly in front of her, gun pointed right under her chin, the other hand flew up and he created a small circle around her, before stepping out of it.  


"No! Come back, that's not a fair fight!" she exclaimed as she realized Stiles had taken her gun with him as soon as his hand was free of Mountain Ash.

He smiled at her, Monroe's blood drying on his face felt weird. "No can do." he replied, turning to Derek who was staring at Stiles completely stunned. "I'll get you out of here and then you'll take the kids and run out. My dad is there and Peter...probably." he instructed, opening the straps drowned in Wolfsbane, ripping off the cables connected to Derek's upper body.  


He saw as Derek rubbed the part that had him hooked up on electricity before he stood up and walked over to the cage. He easily tore the door open. Elli and Ben didn't move, too scared.

"Come on out, my little otters, Derek will take you to grandpa," Stiles coaxed his kids out, who went to him first. He remembered belatedly that he was drenched in blood and didn't want it on them, but then again, so were they. Everyone needed a shower at this point anyway, so he embraced his children and kissed the crown of their heads. "I love you both so much." he whispered. He held on tight, then he gave them to Derek, who was still staring at him in a way Stiles couldn't determine how it was meant. Was he afraid of Stiles? Or was it the stuff Stiles had said to Kate? Probably both.  


Ben and Elli didn't really want to leave, but he definitely didn't want them to see or hear what was coming next. They did stop eventually to squirm around in Derek's arms and Stiles saw them go out through the door.  


"Touching, now let me out of here and we can fight like equals." Kate remarked, making Stiles laugh. He felt a little insane at the moment, but that was maybe the whole situation. Or even his life.  


"You really think I'll let you out? When you tortured my family, intending to kill them? Are you fucking stupid?" Stiles asked, turning towards her. He gripped the handle of the sword and took it out of it's sheath slowly. "I mean, you did make the mistake of choosing people I love. That makes you incredibly dumb." he lamented, swinging the sword around as he walked towards Kate.  


"That's an Argent sword, why do _you_ have it?" Kate asked incredulous, staring at the weapon, as Stiles easily pointed it at her from the distance.

"Your brother gave it to me, to kill you eventually." he answered, swinging it back in a more comfortable hold. "It's actually the first time I really want to use it, too. I never did before and there was never a reason to."  


Stiles was just a few feet away from Kate in the small circle. "Get on your knees," he told her, she didn't move. "That wasn't a suggestion. Get. Down." he said, this time his voice got a lot more authoritative and Kate did as she was told. "Now tell me, how did you find us?"  


"I thought I got them all in one go, but the children weren't mentioned anywhere. A tragedy like this? There would've been something about the poor kids in the news," she answered. "So I found out they were in foster care for a while and contacted Dana Miller. She's dead now. I saw the name and her note about you moving back home to Beacon Hills with them. It wasn't really hard to find your house," Kate confessed. "If they weren't so disgusting little monsters, they could've been cute kids. Just like their daddy."  


"You're barking up the wrong tree," Stiles commented, piercing the sword in one swift motion through her heart. "Should've stayed away from my family, bitch." he said, pulling it out again to behead her as he twirled around once, using the momentum of his pull.  


Her body sacked down, still unable to break through the mountain ash circle.

Stiles took a deep breath, feeling the tension leaving his body. There was new blood spraying onto him and he broke the circle with a hand motion, so Kate's body could fall down in another angle.

The sink on the wall was a welcoming sight to Stiles and he walked over to clean the sword in it, next was his knife. Just as he caught a glimpse of himself in the old and dusty mirror above, he heard footsteps and turned, drawing his gun.  


"Hey, it's just me," Rafael said, holding his hands up. "Derek is waiting outside with his kids. They don't want to leave without you." he told him.

Putting his gun away again, Stiles nodded. "Okay," he said, noticing that Rafael looked at him the same way Derek had. "What?" he asked, hoping he would get an explanation.  


"You look terrifying," Agent McCall admitted. "The way you pointed your gun at me, for a second I thought you might pull the trigger."

"Do I have a reason to?" Stiles retorted, rolling his eyes. Rafael didn't respond and Stiles just turned the faucet on and held his head under it to get rid of the blood. It would still be all over his clothes, but he wouldn't look like a killing maniac anymore.  


There were paper towels stashed next to the sink and Rafael took a few to hand them over, when Stiles came up again. "You know, you kind of reminded me of yourself when you were just seventeen. The Chemist held a gun to your head and I shot him. Your face was full of blood."

"I remember," Stiles responded, looking in the mirror as he wiped his face clean, tabbed his hair dry a bit. "You showed me a few defense moves to get out of such a situation. Had been pretty useful in the past, to be honest."  


"I need to tell you something." Rafael said, heaving a breath. Stiles could see it was hard for him to actually do so and he was pretty sure what it was about anyway.  


"I know," he replied. Rafael gave him a perplex look. "I'm not stupid, Rafael. I've seen the way you look at me," Stiles added. "All I want to know is: Since when?" at this question McCall looked away, something like shame visible on his features.  


"I'm not proud of it." the senior Agent confessed.

Stiles shrugged. "I didn't say you were. I just want to know when you started to look at me differently."

"Why? It wouldn't change anything. I know you're not interested, I'm not stupid either." Rafael replied, sighing. He was annoyed at himself for even bringing it up, Stiles could tell.  


"Rafael...please." Stiles tried again and this time McCall looked at him again, held his gaze.

"The training session we had after The Chemist died. I realized it while we trained and was happy you didn't want to do it again soon after. I wanted to keep my distance, at least physically," Rafael admitted, rubbing a hand over his face. "I didn't even know I liked men too."  


It was silent for a moment. Stiles moved to the wastebin to drop the paper towels inside. "Okay," he said slowly, his footsteps audible as he dragged his feet over the concrete floor. "So it's a physical thing?" he asked, Rafael shook his head in return.  


"That would be much easier, but it's not just the physical aspect. Apparently, I'm attracted to intelligent people," McCall shrugged. "I fell in love with your brain. And you're not hard on the eyes either."  


"And you know I don't feel the same way, will never feel the same way?" it was a rhetorical question, but Rafael nodded anyway. "I'm sorry. I really am. Hopefully you'll find someone else. No one should be alone forever," Stiles closed the distance between them and pulled him down towards him. He kissed McCall's cheek softly. "I should go to my family now."  


"Thanks," Rafael responded, a defeated edge to his stance. "Yes, you should."

  


  



	17. Chapter 17

  


  
Stiles climbed the stairs two at a time and walked down the corridors determinded until he reached the door and was outside. A gust of cool wind caressed his face. There were a lot more cars now, probably FBI taking in all the hunters. Most of the deputies were gone though.  


His dad still stood there, standing next to Stiles car, with Derek and the kids.

Derek looked up and their eyes met immediately. It felt like being sucked into another world and Stiles didn't know how he got there so fast, but suddenly he stood with them and had his twins in his arms, hugging the dear life out of him.  


"Parrish will drive me to the Station so you can take the car and bring everyone else home," his dad said, embracing him shortly and placing a kiss to his temple. "I guess I don't want to know why your hair smells like blood?" Noah asked when he took a step back. He was thankful his father had taken Stiles car, so he could take his kids home safely.  


"Not really, no." Stiles answered, not even wanting to elaborate on it and his dad seemed to be fine with it.

"Okay, drive safe. Get a good nights sleep, they will probably contact you for a statement." Noah said and went over to Parrish, slinking into the passenger side of his cruiser. He watched them back out of the parking lot for a moment and then turned his gaze to Derek.  


"Wanna get the hell out of here?" he asked him and Derek nodded. There was still this look Stiles couldn't figure out under a layer of relief. Like he waited for Stiles to do something and he honestly had no clue what he was supposed to do.  


They strapped the kids in the backseat safely and got in the car, Stiles on the drivers side.

He knew the sword was kind of in the way, but he ignored it, although he did notice Derek eyeing it a few times. Stiles in turn eyed Derek while he drove, just glances, but he got the picture. He was bloody and his t-shirt torn, like Kate had used her claws and sunk them into his torso over and over again. He looked through the rearview mirror at his kids, faces red from their own blood and expression sad and scared still.  


"She clawed at their faces, they lost more blood, because werewolf kids don't heal as fast as teenagers or adults. It looks worse than it was luckily." Derek said, talking to him for the first time since Stiles rescued them.  


Stiles gripped the steering wheel. "The fact that she hurt them at all...I don't care if it looks worse than it actually was, it happened one time and it's one time too often. Just because you heal, doesn't mean it's okay to hurt you, Derek. Don't you get that?" he asked, chancing a glance to his right and saw Derek staring at him in surprise.  


"I'm sorry. I should've protected them better-" Derek said, searching for words and Stiles turned over to the curb and stopped the car so abruptly, he cut off whatever the werewolf was going to say.  


"Shut up. It's not your fault!" Stiles said, reaching over to touch Derek's arm to get his attention. "Look at me, Derek. It's not your fault, it's Kate's fault and Monroe's and all those shitheads of hunters who had been there. You did what you could, I'm sure of it. I trust you with my life and I trust you with my kid's life's too. Always."  


"You shouldn't. They got hurt. Not only physically. And I couldn't stop anyone from doing it." Derek replied, looking down at his hands lying in his lap. Stiles could see his eyes glistening in the dim light of the street lamps.  


"But I do trust you," Stiles insisted. "Look at them, they're alive. You're alive. That's all that matters to me." he pointed at his kids, who followed their conversation with wide eyes. "Sure, we probably need some therapy there for a while, but overall, it's a success and she won't be back ever again. They're both gone and the hunters got arrested. None of them can ever hurt us again."  


"I know. I heard what you did to her," Derek responded. "I was sure you would do the same to me for endangering the twins."

"Please listen to my heartbeat. I don't want to hurt you, Derek. I thought I was going insane, when I didn't find any of you and saw the blood in the living room. Your phone. If Peter hadn't come to help me, I would've burned the fucking world down to find _you three,_ " Stiles said evenly, hoping Derek knew he meant every word. "And now let's get back home, take a shower and sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."  


"You can turn here and let me out, I can walk the rest to my apartment, it's not so far." Derek said and motioned into the general direction to his right.

"Nope. You don't even have your keys, I saw them lying on the drawer next to the entrance at mine and also: double No, you look like an extra for The Walking Dead, I'm not gonna let you walk around town like this." Stiles stated as he turned the ignition on again to continue driving home.  


"It's dark, no one would even see me." Derek argued.

" _Derek,_ " Stiles said pointedly. He saw the werewolf heave an angry breath, before he heard it being released, out of the corner of his eyes. "You're staying with us tonight. Please." Stiles said, this time softer.  


"Fine."

It didn't take them long to arrive and as soon as he killed the engine, he took his phone out and shot Peter a short _'Thank you'_. He didn't really want to wait too long.  


They went inside, Stiles noticed that the floor was clean now and mused it had to be someone from the station after taking photos and samples for evidence. He closed the door and activated the alarm, something they should've done when he went out earlier in the day. It didn't matter now, they hadn't and what was done was done.  


Stiles lead the way up the stairs, twins safely in Derek's arms as he went into his bedroom and took the belt off, putting his weapons back into the box and into the hidden space in his closet. He then searched for clean clothes for Derek and laid them on the bed. "Here, you can take a shower in my bathroom, I'm gonna take the kids and get ready with them." he said, as Derek let the twins down carefully. Stiles could see his conflict, but ignored it, walking the short distance to his children's bathroom.  


"We're all gonna take a shower, okay? That's way quicker than a bath." he said, taking his protective gear off in the hallway, followed by his shirt and socks. Elli and Ben did the same. They would throw the clothes away tomorrow.  


He hadn't been this glad about the big shower stall before, but now he actually was close to worshipping its existence. Stiles ushered Elli and Ben in and followed them in after retrieving their shampoo and shower gel. He would just use their stuff, since his was currently somewhere else.  


Somewhere he wasn't going to think about too hard.

The showerhead was huge above their head, luxurious, like everything in this house. It provided everyone with water raining down equally on their heads. Stiles stole a bit of the shampoo and foamed up his hair after rinsing it for a while, just to make sure the blood was gone. He observed his kids and hinted at what to do.  


He knew they weren't old enough to actually follow through his instructions and as soon as he was clean enough himself, he crouched down and washed his kids thoroughly until the water cascading down was clean. He rinsed them one at a time and opened the glass door of their shower stall.  


Ben and Elli immediately took their towels and cocooned themselves in them and Stiles just took a fresh one out of the cupboard, drying himself down mechanical with the fluffy Hello Kitty towel and put it around his waist. He sighed as he realized he forgot his own clothes. "Can you two go and put on your PJ's? Daddy's going back into his own bedroom to find his. We're going to have a sleepover in my bed tonight, okay? Just come into my room when you put on your pajamas." Stiles said, smiling a bit as his kids nodded in understanding.  


Thoughts currently somewhere else, he went over into his room and almost jumped in shock, when he saw Derek sitting on the edge of his king-size bed. "Jesus Christ, don't give me a heart attack." Stiles exclaimed, suddenly alert again. His heart rate was drumming at a suddenly faster pace.  


Derek stared at him for a moment before swallowing and looking away. "I wasn't sure if I should just go to the guest room or if I should sleep on the couch downstairs. I didn't know...you would need some privacy."  


"It's okay," Stiles said, taking a few even breaths to normalize his fast heartbeat again. He went over to the drawer and took out fresh boxer briefs, putting them on under the towel and then leaving it on the floor, before he went over to his bed to put on his pajama bottoms and t-shirt from last night. "You don't need to leave. The kids will sleep here tonight and probably the next weeks or so, who am I kidding, really? I would like to have you close with them, with me. If you're okay with that?"  


Stiles watched Derek's expression closely, he wouldn't want to overstep any boundaries. Or at least not more than anyone had already. He wasn't sure if Derek liked to be alone after something like this, he just guessed that Derek probably always tended to end up alone after being threatened or almost dying.  


Derek looked like he couldn't quite figure out what Stiles meant. "You want me to sleep here? With you and your kids in the same bed?" his brows were doing a complicated tango between surprise and disbelieve.  


"Yes, I do," Stiles replied, shrugging slightly. "Unless you don't want to. I'm not going to force you, but I would feel better, knowing you're not going to slink away into the night to fall into your self-hatred routine of manly brooding and shouldering the fault entirely on yourself."  


"I could still leave when you fall asleep." Derek answered, crossing his arms and scowling just a bit. He reminded Stiles of his former self, almost ten years ago now.  


"Yeah, right. You try to even get out of bed to take a leak, when Elli or Ben lie next to you. They're going to cling to you like little koala bears, I swear to god. You're not going anywhere with their little fingers digging into your, well, technically my shirt." Stiles mocked, throwing the bedding open to sit on the mattress.

It didn't take long and the twins walked through the door shyly. "Will Derek have a sleepover with us?" Ben asked in a hushed voice, his sister next to him looked just as excited as he did.  


"I don't know, will he?" Stiles addressed Derek, eyebrows raised in question and he saw the exact moment Derek gave in.

"Yes, he will." the older werewolf confirmed with a sigh.

  


  



	18. Chapter 18

  


  
The four them got comfortable in Stiles bed and for a moment the domestic aspect of it all tugged so hard at Stiles heartstrings, he thought it might stand still if he wouldn't occupy his mind otherwise. He wanted this to be their life so bad, but right now he just needed to feel safe and know Elli, Ben and Derek were safe too. They were his family, even if Derek would never want him back.  


The twins were lying between them, Stiles and Derek facing them, building a safe cocoon around the two. Elli was turned towards Stiles, burying her face in his chest, while Ben did the same with Derek. He reached out and put his fingers through Bens hair, petting him softly and then doing the same to Elli. "I love you both, do you hear me?" he stated quietly, feeling Derek's eyes on him, so he bent his head down to avoid them as he kissed Elli's head.  


He heard fabric rustling and felt small hands in his hair. Ben had turned around and was now petting him. "I know." Ben said as a matter of fact. He just got Han Solo'ed by his own son.  


There was a soft "love you too." from Elli, mumbled into his chest. Then she looked up at him. "What 'bout De'ek?" she asked sleepily.

Both of his children were looking at him expectantly, while Derek changed his position and was now lying on his back, arm thrown over his eyes. At least he wouldn't have to see the shock or disgust in the eyes, when he was going to answer. "Of course I love him too. We wouldn't have a sleepover with uncle Derek otherwise." he tried to make it sound not the way it was meant, but he saw Derek tensing up.  


"But daddy, De'ek isn't our uncle." Ben stated and Stiles quietly panicked inside his head. Had he given away too much? Had he been too obvious?

"You call Scott 'uncle' too. And you know he's not my real brother," Stiles said, hoping to finally understand their problem with them calling Derek uncle. "What's the difference?" he asked.  


"Doesn't feel right," Ben said, blinking up at him. "He's like you."

_Oh, shit._

"You said, we're family." Elli chimed in, she still gripped his shirt, but was now lying on her back like her brother.

"Uh, yeah I did, that's true," Stiles admitted. He really didn't want to talk about any of this, but his kids seemed to have other plans. "How about we go to sleep now? I'm _so tired._ Aren't you tired?" he tried and faked a yawn, which was promptly followed by two yawns from his kids.  


Derek was still lying with his arm draped over his eyes. It was quiet for a long time and Stiles closed his own eyes too now, even though he knew he wouldn't sleep for the next two hours. "Daddy?" he heard Elli whisper softly and he opened his eyes again, finding hers trained on him.  


"Hmm?" he replied, hoping to not disturb the others.

He saw the way her lower lip was pushed out in a pout and she looked just sad with her shining eyes. "Am I a monster?" she asked, lip quivering slightly. In his peripheral vision he saw Derek flinch and knew he was awake too. Ben didn't move, apparently dead to the world.  


Stiles gravitated even more to his daughter and cradled her face with his right hand. "No, you're not. Sweetheart, you're not a monster. You're my perfect little child." he tried to reassure her, kissing her forehead as she started to sob quietly.  


"She said 'm dang'rous." Elli hiccupped, tears staining her small face and Stiles pulled her towards himself against his chest.

"You're not dangerous, you're not a monster, you're _just_ a werewolf." he told her as she buried her face against his neck. He could feel her warm tears pooling there on his skin and he rubbed her back gently in a soothing manner. "Listen to my heart, can you hear it?" he asked and felt her nod. "You're _not_ a monster. You're _not_ dangerous," he said slowly. "Did I lie?" Stiles asked then and Elli shook her head. "I would never lie to you. Whoever told you that you were a monster was a bad person and wanted to hurt you."  


They stayed like this and Elli fell asleep slowly while Stiles rubbed her back softly. His own eyes were prickling with tears as he realized what his four year old kids had to live through the bigger part of the afternoon and evening today. He had hoped they would be spared this psychological trauma at least until they were old enough to process it.  


Stiles blinked his tears away and looked over when he caught movement from Derek. He had put his arm down and was watching Stiles with a concerned expression. If he was going to let him down easy now, Stiles was just going to break, he knew. He hoped they could at least wait until tomorrow.  


Mindful of Ben lying so close to him, Derek turned back on his side, facing them again. They were just staring at each other as Stiles was silently crying. He didn't even know why he couldn't stop. "You should sleep. You said we'll talk tomorrow." Derek said in a low voice. Then he started to move back into his previous position, just to be halted by Ben, whose fingers were gripping tightly onto the shirt.  


It made Stiles smile involuntarily. "Told you." he whispered, catching Derek's own smile before he closed his eyes. This time, he actually drifted off into a light slumber and eventually fell asleep more deeply.  


The next time he opened his eyes, it was as he woke with a start. He couldn't remember being so well rested and not knowing what he dreamed about. He had just been out like a light for several hours. The sun was not up yet and he looked around the room.  


He couldn't see the twins and panicked for a second. "They're in Elli's room, playing." he heard a sleep rumbled voice say from his left. When Stiles looked over he saw Derek, still with his eyes closed, hair a complete mess. He looked so much younger now in this relaxed state.  


"Good to know." Stiles replied his own voice scratchy, somehow he wasn't so sure anymore if it had been a good idea last night. Waking up like this and being graced with a morning that will never be repeated probably, was sweet torture, but still torture.  


"We should talk," Derek suggested and Stiles groaned. "While they're still occupied." he continued without missing a beat.

"This is weird." Stiles commented, turning onto his stomach and hiding his face in his pillow. "I really didn't know how weird until now. It's one thing to fall asleep on the couch together and completely different to wake up here." he stated, groaning again as he felt how his shoulder ached.  


He heard Derek huff a laugh. "We can go downstairs if it makes you feel better."

Stiles moved his arm around slightly, teeth grinding against the pain. "That's a hard no. I'm not going anywhere," he grumbled into his pillow. "I think I pulled something last night. My shoulder is killing me."  


"Never knew you'd be the whiny type in the morning." Derek commented, sounding way too chipper.

"And I never knew you'd be the type who's in a sunny mood at-" Stiles turned his face to his nightstand to get a decent look at his alarm clock with one eye closed, groaning again for good measure. " _Fuck my life_ o'clock." he concluded, as he saw it was only five in the morning.

This time it drew out a snort from Derek. "How can you be so grumpy," it wasn't even a question. "Give me your hand, Stiles." he insisted and Stiles just complied. As the pain went away he sighed in relief.  


"Oh, Derek, _Derek_ , that's so nice, thank you. Seriously, _thank you._ So awesome, I love the pain drain thing." Stiles said, sighing in pleasure as he lost the tension everywhere all at once.  


Then they were quiet again, Stiles considered just going back to sleep, maybe avoid heartbreak a little longer, but Derek seemed to have other plans, as he propped himself up against the headboard next to Stiles. "Don't. We need to talk."  


"Then use your words and actually throw some sentences at me that have meaning. I'm awake." Stiles replied, opening his eyes and turning back around to look at Derek properly.  


"Why did you leave?" Derek asked, after just returning Stiles questioning gaze for a while. This resulted in Stiles breaking their eye contact. He swallowed, this wasn't what he had thought they would talk about.  


"I told you when I went out, that I needed some air." Stiles answered, voice firm.

"But why? Was it such a bad suggestion to babysit your kids so you could go out on a date?" the werewolf wanted to know and Stiles sat up, gesturing at Derek wildly for a moment.  


"Are you seriously asking me this? After everything, this is what you want to have answered?" Stiles countered. "How can you not know why it bothered me?!" he got out of bed to pace next to it.  


"That's why I'm asking, because I don't understand you, Stiles."

"Okay...okay." he said, coming to a halt in front of the bed. "Then I'll make it perfectly clear to you: The reason why it hurt me so much that I had to get out of my own house so my kids won't see me cry, so _you_ won't see me cry. I don't want to date anyone, because I'm so fucking gone on you. And knowing you want me to be with someone else, anyone else apparently, broke my heart. That's why I left." the longer the silence stretched out between them, the more his heart sank again.  


Stiles nodded in understanding, swallowing down his tears, while Derek just looked at him. "It doesn't matter. Even though I'm in love with you, you don't have to feel obligated to reciprocate. I was just deeply hurt and needed to deal with it," at this point he just rambled on. There was not really anything that could make this situation any worse and not talking gave Stiles too much time to think and that was a very very bad idea. "Shit."  


He laughed humorless. "That's probably the reason why my kids refuse to call you uncle. They apparently picked up on the way I feel about you and know enough that you're not supposed to feel this way about your brother." Stiles said and he felt his tears tickle their way down his cheeks. Derek just kept staring like he couldn't quite comprehend what exactly happened right now. "I can understand if you don't want to be around me anymore."  


Coming clean like this made him want to vomit, but he knew there was nothing in his stomach at the moment and it would only end in dry heaving. "Say something. Anything." he prompted, not able to take the silence any longer.  


"Come back to bed." Derek said finally.

  


  



	19. Chapter 19

  


  
Stiles looked perplex at Derek, unsure if he had heard right. "What?"

"I said: Come back to bed. You idiot." Derek replied, suppressing a smile. He earned a suspicious look at that.

"I don't recall the insult being part of the first time you said this." Stiles said, slowly sinking back onto the mattress. He was sitting on the edge, body turned towards Derek as they spoke.  


Derek rolled his eyes. "I thought it was a fitting addition."

"I bared my soul to you and you're just insulting me? That's not nice." Stiles pointed out, he didn't know where this was going at all. He couldn't read Derek at the moment, like he usually could. He was still sure to get rejected any moment now.  


"I know, I'm not a nice person, but you're not nice either and that's okay."

"Derek..."

"I'm not finished yet. You said a lot of stuff and I need to too." Derek interrupted him.

"If you're going to reject me, just say so." Stiles said, even though he wasn't supposed to talk right now. He got on the bed more properly, hands twisting in his bedspread next to his thigh.  


"Stiles, can you please just shut up for a moment and let me talk?" Derek asked and Stiles nodded in affirmation. He could do that, he could keep his mouth shut and take whatever was about to come.  


"When you went to College we were actually decent friends, finally. I looked forward to your texts or calls, our conversations in general. And I knew why, but then you just shut me off and I thought you caught onto how I felt about you and didn't want me in you life anymore." Derek told him, eyes flitting over Stiles face to take in his reaction probably.  


"And then out of nowhere you contact me again and told me you've got children. Werewolf children and that you need advice. I thought you were in a relationship and no one ever told me you had a whole family in DC. I was angry and to be honest, jealous, until you said you hadn't known about them either and that their mom was dead now." Derek said.  


"And I thought I could be there for you, just as a friend, be as involved as you would let me. Because I still thought you knew and resented me for it. I admit, I went overboard with the house and everything, really," he looked around the room, one hand going through his hair in a futile effort to tame them. "I just wanted you to be happy and safe. Even if you wouldn't be with me."  


"Oh Derek..." Stiles couldn't stop himself from saying.

"So, now you understand that I just wanted you to know it wouldn't change anything between us if you found someone else. I didn't want to hurt you." he went on like Stiles hadn't said anything at all.  


"It's okay. We're pretty damn stupid. We could've been dating this whole time if we had just talked about it." Stiles said, forcing a hollow laugh out.  


"Don't say that." Derek replied, head inclined slightly. "Your twins wouldn't have been born otherwise."  


"True. Only good thing that came off of our dumbassery." Stiles drawled. It took a moment, but then his eyes lit up. "Hey, does that mean we can date now?" he asked, a slow smile forming on his lips.  


"I hope so." Derek replied with a mirroring smile. He watched Stiles as he came closer, knee touching Derek's thigh now.

"Can I- Uh, would we be moving too fast if we-" Stiles stuttered, suddenly a lot more shy than expected. Derek shifted in his spot, way closer to him now than before. One hand landed on his cheek.  


"I'm going to kiss you now, okay?" the werewolf said, waiting for anything that told him he shouldn't as he watched Stiles face closely.

"Oh, hell yes-" were Stiles next words, breathless and excited, before their lips met in a soft and loving kiss.

Their mouths moved against each other and Stiles realized he had never kissed someone like this. It conveyed so many emotions he couldn't even begin to analyze. He did know there was an awful lot of longing and love though. Since his bedroom door was ajar and he did in fact have two four year old kids, he was aware that he couldn't dwell on the feeling of lust welling up inside him.  


Derek had apparently the same thought, because they took their time to break the kiss. He leaned his forehead against Stiles'. "We should at least have a first date." he said in a hushed voice, which made Stiles groan.  


"I know you're right, but I still don't like it," Stiles grumbled. Derek leaned back into the pillows and took Stiles with him, just to cuddle. "You know what, this is great too. Kissing, cuddling and taking naps, I can absolutely get behind those things."  


"Good to know. Heads up, the kids are coming back." Derek whispered into his hair and Stiles snickered into his chest. A few seconds later the door opened a bit more and two whirlwinds jumped up on the bed.  


They seemed surprised at what they saw for a split-second, but didn't say anything before throwing themselves at Stiles and Derek. It was the most domestic shit that ever happened and Stiles was so ready for it.  


This was what had been missing from his life. The lack of happiness and family had almost driven him to self-destruction in DC. He wouldn't have to fight anymore, there were no evil masterminds left who even knew of them. They would overcome what had happened with time and help from professionals.  


There was going to be so much love in his present and future. He felt like he was finally home.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that's a wrap! We're done :D
> 
> feel free to leave kudos or comments or bookmarks. Everything is valued deeply 💖
> 
> (I might put one chapter to the series from Derek's view.  
> But since I still need to finish it and don't know if I'd upload it at all, I can't promise anything.)


End file.
